


Together Again

by GStarshine



Series: Archangel Sam [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Sam Winchester, Dean as Death, Death's Death, Feels, Gabriel Lives, I tried......, Lucifer's Cage, M/M, Mates, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possessive Lucifer, Protective Lucifer, Resurrect Gabriel, Season 11, The Darkness - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-14 00:05:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5722159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GStarshine/pseuds/GStarshine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Darkness has been freed but Sam really just wants to get his man. </p>
<p>Alternatively: Sam gets what he wants but I guess we can save the world too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Musings of a Mate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sam think things over and the author plays name games.

Walking down the long corridor that led to the outskirts of Hell Sam felt himself grow lighter. This is what he’d been waiting for. A reason, any reason, to spring his other half. The Darkness was a pretty big reason, but it’s not like Dean would have accepted anything less than the end of the world.

Sam hoped his mate was not too upset. After his soul had been stolen from the cage by Death the wall in his head had blocked both his memories and his new form. When the wall had shattered, the strain of his grace adjusting to having a body again had corrupted his memories. By the time Castiel had righted his mind, Sam’s grace had settled and he had done his best to hide it away. The moment his memories had righted in his head, Sam had wanted to retrieve his mate, but they had to deal the Leviathans before that got too much more out of hand. Sam had told Dean that while he was in purgatory he hadn’t looked for a way to get him out, which was true. However he had not been stagnant as people seemed to assume. No, he had been looking for a way to pop the cage open.

His first choice, the rings, were straight out. Death had taken his back after the first time and the other three were useless without it. He had followed lead after lead only for them to come up short every time. He had been on the verge of sneaking to the cage to see if by some miracle he could talk to his mate through the walls to get ideas when Dean had come back with his new vampire in tow.

Again things had gotten out of control and new leads came to new dead ends but now, here he was. He could feel his grace shifting more the closer they got to the cage. Sam pressed it back, not wanting the already paranoid Rowena to get jumpy. Sam was sure he could do the ritual by himself but he was also sure Crowley would set every demon and hell hound he could on him at the first sign that something was off.

“Moose!” Crowley snapped, bringing Sam out of his musings. “We’re here. Maybe you want to pay attention as we summon one of the most dangerous beings in existence for your little tea party!”

Sam rolled his eyes, “I am paying attention, but I’m just here to talk to him. I can’t do anything until your mother casts her spells.”

“Calm down boys.” Rowena said as she started setting things out on the dirty table placed in front of the smaller cage. “No need to invite more tension to this little gathering.”

Sam crossed his arms over his chest and watched Rowena as his mind wandered again. Only a few more minutes and he would be back with is mate. And wasn’t that description still weird in his head?

When Sam was first presented with the idea of mating, he had already assumed that he and his other half would be together eternally through the properties of the cage. So accepting hadn’t been anything big, even when explained that they would have trouble being away from one another. After all, they were in the cage, why would they ever separate? Sam knew now though, after regaining his memory, that the pain of being away from his mate had lent a hand to his mind breaking. He couldn’t even imagine what the distance had done to his mate.


	2. Hello Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam sees his man.
> 
> His man asks stuff.
> 
> Or: the author still plays name games.

The flaring of the fire jerked Sam back into the moment. He stepped back into the shadows as Crowley stepped closer to the cage in front of them, so he could look over his mate before he went further. As the fire died and his mate stepped forward Sam’s grace jumped. Sam got it in a choke hold, hoping that his mate hadn’t felt it, knowing that Rowena or Crowley could send his other half back into the actual cage before he could get to him.

“My old friend Crowley.”

Sam smirked, his mate barely tolerated the demon, but Crowley was sure to blow it out of proportion.

“Please.” Crowley said straightening his suit, “I’m but a mere acolyte, carrying your torch.”

Sam fought the urge to giggle and his mate wore a small smirk, “Your too kind.” The blond says, “To yourself.” Sam followed the lines of his mate’s vessel as he stretched out an arm to lean up against the bars, “What do you want of me?”

Crowley turned to Sam as he stepped from the shadows, his gaze not dropping from his mates face. He watched closely as emotions flew over his mates face before settling into a false mask. “Sam Winchester, my old roomie.” He stretched his arms out through the bars, “Hug it out?”

Sam fought to keep a straight face as he turned to Crowley, “I’ve got it from here.” Crowley narrowed his eyes but eventually nodded and ushered Rowena to an abandon guard tower out of hearing range.

“Sam?” his mate asked quietly. Sam turned around to see his mate had dropped his arms and his mask, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

“Lucifer.” Sam said before breaking out into a wide smile, “I missed you.”

The Archangel’s eyes lit up, “I missed you too.” He dropped his eyes and grimaced, “I thought you had forgotten.”

Sam’s heart ached, “I did.” Lucifer looked at him sharply, “Death put up a wall around my memories of the cage.” Sam explained, “Raphael knocked it down it down and I remembered.”

Lucifer blinked but nodded, “I’ll have to thank him.”

“You can’t.” Sam sighed, “He’s dead. A lot has happened.”

The Archangel’s icy blue eyes didn’t leave Sam, “It sounds like it.” He tilted his head in a way Sam associated with Castiel, “Why are you hiding your grace?”

Sam grimaced, “Like I said, a lot.” He looked up at Lucifer and a grin spread across his face, “I promise to catch you up once we’ve gotten out of here and found a nice bed to renew our bond.”

Lucifer’s face brightened and he returned Sam’s grin, “Sounds fair.”

“Good.” Sam chuckled, “It took me forever to find a way to even get you out just to talk and I’m aching being this close without being able to touch.” Lucifer sent Sam a look that told him that he felt the same. “Now, I have a general Idea on how to get you out but it depends on one thing.” Lucifer frowned and Sam sighed, “Will we need Michael to deal with the darkness?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I now have a general direction of the story but suggestions are still welcome. 
> 
> I have no beta so feel free to tell me stuff (nicely) and I will get it fixed.


	3. Breakout King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Crowley is a child,
> 
> Michael is a pancake, 
> 
> And Sam works some jail break wonders.

Lucifer froze, “The darkness.” he griped the bars in front of him and the metal groaned under the pressure. “Like sealed since the very beginning the darkness?” he growled.

Sam nodded, “Dean killed Death and the darkness was released.”

“Killed Death.” Lucifer rasped, he rubbed his hands over his face, “Not gonna lie Sammy, when you said ‘a lot’ I figured the Norse had tried to start Ragnarök or something, not this.”

Sam grinned, “Nah, you killed all the Norse gods remember?”

Lucifer looked at him and grinned, “Oh right.” He shrugged, “Well they were annoying.”

“You were just trying to show off.” Sam shot back.

Lucifer’s eyes flared with grace, “Only for you Sam.” He sighed, “Anyway, the darkness.” He rubbed the back of his neck, something he had picked up from his time in Sam’s head, “Yeah, we will need my brother.”

Sam nodded, “Alright. We will need to go back into the main cage. Crowley’s loyalty is, as always, situational and his mother’s isn’t any better. So….” He looked up at Lucifer with a sly smile, “Kidnap me?”

“Just like old times.” Lucifer laughed, Sam felt his grace sing as his mate’s wrapped around him and yanked him past the wards, into the small cage, and directly into his arms. Sam relaxed completely for the first time since his soul was pulled from the cage and reveled in the feel of Lucifer at his back with his arms around his waist, strong and sure.

Sam settled his arms over Lucifer’s and leaned back, “Missed this.” He sighed happily. Lucifer hummed in agreement, the sound reverberating through Sam as Lucifer breathed in his scent.

A shout came from outside the cage and both men looked up but didn’t move. Rowena was at the table again, going over the notes, and Crowley was staring at them from beyond the line of ashes. “Lucifer, let the Winchester go.” Crowley ordered.

Lucifer’s grip on Sam tightened and Sam discreetly rubbed his thumbs over the back of Lucifer’s hands making him relax slightly. “Now why would I do that?” the Archangel purred, “It’s been awfully lonely in the cage since my bunk buddy left and cuddling up to big brother just isn’t the same.” Sam bit his lip to keep from laughing when he saw Rowena shiver.

“Give him back now!” Crowley demanded.

Lucifer blinked before breaking out into full bellied laughter, “You aren’t a demon! You’re a child who believes he shouldn’t have to share!” Lucifer settled his chin on Sam’s shoulder and watched Crowley with amusement. “If you want him, come take him little one.”

Crowley shifted uneasily before taking a step back, “I’ll give my condolences to squirrel, moose.” He said with a wave to Rowena who dissipated the spell holding Lucifer in the smaller cage.

Sam held tight to Lucifer as they were jerked back into the actual cage. The second they came to a stop, Lucifer spun Sam in his arms and kissed him. Sam’s brain shut off as he melted into the safety of his mates embrace. Lucifer slid his tongue along Sam’s bottom lip and Sam opened his mouth, all too happy to allow him in.

When Lucifer pulled away he pressed his forehead to Sam’s. “I really did miss you Sammy.” Lucifer murmured, “I’m not going to let you out of my sight for a very long time.”

Sam smiled, “I’m definitely okay with that.” He gave Lucifer a quick chaste kiss before stepping back, “Let’s go. The faster we get out of here the faster we can go find that bed.”

Lucifer released him with a laugh, “The quicker the better.” He intertwined his fingers with Sam and flew them to another corner of the cage.

Sam frowned at the sight before him. Michael, in the guise of a young John Winchester, was laying on the ground with his arms and legs spread flat out. His eyes were open but glazed over, the only sign he was actually inhabiting the vessel was a subtle twitch of his hand. Sam looked to Lucifer but he just shrugged.

“Michael?” Sam questioned, the archangel on the floor flinched and his eyes cleared, he tilted his head but made no more to get up.

“Sam?” Michael whispered, “Lucifer is getting better at making illusions of you.”

Sam looked to Lucifer and, to his surprise, Satan was blushing. “I just wanted to see you.” He mumbled, “I didn’t do anything else with them.”

“I’m not mad.” Sam said with a soft smile, “It’s pretty adorable.” Lucifer’s blush darkened as Sam gave him a kiss on the cheek. He looked down at Michael, “What are you doing Michael?”

“I’m bored. So I figured I’d be a pancake. Pancakes can’t get bored. They’re just flour and sugar and stuff.” Michael continued to whisper, “You’re an illusion, you should be a pancake instead. Pancakes are better.”

Sam blinked down at the pancake in disbelief before looking up to an equally baffled Lucifer, “You didn’t break out the weed when I was here.” Lucifer broke down laughing, even releasing Sam’s hand to clutch at his vessel’s sides.

“Michael.” Sam said evenly, crouching down at his side. “I’m not an illusion, you’re not a pancake, and we need to get out of the cage.”

Michael frowned, “This illusion is mentally unstable Lucifer. You’re an Archangel. Surely you can do better.”

“Better than you!” Lucifer cackled, “Pancakes can’t make illusions at all!”

Sam rolled his eyes and leaned down to tap Michael’s forehead, “Illusions can’t be felt and pancakes are tons fluffier than you.”

Lucifer’s laughter turned into maniacal giggles, “Hear that Michael? You have failed as a pancake!”

In a flash Michael tackled Lucifer, “Take it back!”

Sam sighed and stood, he ignored the two fighting Archangels to walk toward where he remembered the door to be. He knew the two would follow and he felt okay as long as he could still feel Lucifer. When the double doors came into view Sam grinned triumphantly. He walked over and ran his hand along the seals, only stopping when he found the one he needed. He pressed his hand to it and closed his eyes to focus.

He concentrated on his memory of the night he broke this, the final seal. Being in the convent with those two demon bitches, Dean banging on the door, the feel of his power snuffing out Lilith’s life, and the design her blood made spreading across the stone floor. As he remembers the light and the heat created by the door opening in the convent floor he feels the seal under his hand burn.

Sam opened his eyes and watched as the sixty-seven seals began to glow white, in the next second the doors swung wide allowing Sam to look down in the expanse of hell. He whooped and threw his arms up in victory before turning to call to the Archangels. Both were standing together staring at him in disbelief.

“How did you do that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the pancake thing seems out of place but I just had to put it in. My friend had muscle relaxers after her surgery and wasn't aware of how strong they were before she took one. She ended up sprawled on the floor claiming that she was a pancake and wouldn't move. It was hilarious. Also I'm bad at intros, so high!Michael was the way to go.
> 
> Next chapter will be up before Wednesday. I have a long weekend so I don't know if it will be sooner or later, it depends on if I'm lazy or if I actually write in the next couple of days.


	4. A Lot.......

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations, new questions, and a cliffhanger.

"No seriously!” Michael exclaimed, coming over to the door and running his hands down the seals. “How did you do that?”

Sam crossed his arms over his chest, “We ran into Metatron. He told me about a couple of loopholes in the cage.” He pointed to the final seal which had rested in the seam of the door, “One of which was that the final seal had a psychic connection. The way Metatron told it, after Lilith was killed the seal only remained broken for a short period of time, so if for some reason she was killed before the required 65 seals were broken, whoever killed her could be brought here and, by remembering killing her, could break it through the psychic connection.”

Lucifer frowned at Michael, “You didn’t know?”

Michael winced, “No.” he looked back to Sam, “So the cage will close again?” Lucifer took on a worried look and pulled Sam closer to the door.

Sam followed willingly but shook his head, “No the cage won’t close again unless we reset the seals.” Both Archangels looked to him and he smiled, “Metatron also told me about the hierarchy of the seals. The two required ones are the highest in the order, but right under them are eight higher power seals. Three were broken the first time, the three representing War, Famine, and Pestilence. I broke the one representing Death about a month after the angels fell. With half of the higher seals broken the cage can’t reclose. I effectively broke the hinges.”

“The angels fell?” Michael asked, the surprise clear on his face.

Sam nodded, “I told Luce but you guys have missed a lot.” He looked down into Hell and shivered, “However I would really like to get out of here before we get into that.” He bit his lip, “Actually, after we leave we should probably go tell Dean I’m not in the cage before he does something stupid like try to storm Hell.”

Lucifer tightened his grip on Sam and leaned in close, “We aren’t moving any closer to that bed.” He murmured in Sam’s ear.

Sam shivered and kissed Lucifer’s neck, “Dean is in the bunker. I have a room there with a very nice bed.” He hummed, his voice dropping a bit.

“No!” Michael cried, waving his hands by their faces, “None of that! Not now! We have stuff to do! A Dean to stop and an explanation to listen to!”

“Fine.” Lucifer huffed, “Spoilsport.” He slid an arm around Sam and took off, landing in the next moment in Stull Cemetery.

“So where is this bunker?” Michael asked.

Sam finally let his grace unfurl and settle into place, he grinned at Lucifer whose eyes had flashed at the feeling. “Follow me.” He took off, relishing the feel of using his wings for the first time in years. He landed easily at the bunkers front door, with the two Archangel’s landing seconds later.

Michael smiled at him, “First time flying in a while?”

Sam looked sheepish, “I haven’t had a chance in a while.” He turned to the door and opened it, the Archangel’s followed him inside after shutting the door behind them.

Unsurprisingly to Sam, shouting echoed up into the entrance hall. When they reached the balcony overlooking the war room, the three stopped at the railing to take in the scene before them. Crowley and Rowena stood in the archway to the library while Dean stood by the map with his gun drawn. “What the hell do you mean Sam’s gone?!” he was screeching.

“Just that! Lucifer dragged him back into the cage with him!” Crowley snapped.

“And where were you when this happened?” Dean growled.

“We were right there.” Rowena said calmly, “But the wards failed for some reason, Lucifer just pulled him right through them.”

“And why didn’t you tell us the wards weren’t safe?!” Dean shouted waving his gun.

“Your brother was the one who found those wards! He shared headspace with Lucifer!” Crowley shouted right back, his face going red as he ran out of air, “I assumed he knew what would work and what wouldn’t.” Lucifer and Michael looked to Sam who smirked and shrugged.

“And you did nothing once the shields failed?” Dean questioned his grip tightening on his weapon, “You just left him with Lucifer?”

“And what would have me do?” Crowley asked spreading his arms, “I may be the King of Hell but he’s still a fucking Archangel! He could have outright killed moose! At least all he did was drag him back! Knowing your ridiculous Winchester luck you’ll find a way to get him out of the cage before Lucifer rips his soul to shreds!”

“I would never!” Lucifer interrupted, looking horrified. Immediately Dean spun around to take aim at the voice and Crowley and Rowena froze. Lucifer ignored them and turned to Sam, “Why would they think that?”

Sam slid closer to his mate, “When the wall first came down the accumulated separation hit me all at once. The pain altered my memories.” 

Lucifer looked stricken, “Oh Sammy, I’m sorry.” He murmured, pulling Sam into his arms.

“Sam!” Dean yelped, “Get away from him!”

Lucifer pulled back slightly to frown down at Dean, “Calm yourself Dean. I haven’t nor will I ever hurt your brother.” He narrowed his eyes and looked to Crowley, “You on the other hand, Crowley, I would take great pleasure in hurting.” Crowley let out what amounted to a squeak and disappeared with Rowena.

Dean blinked once, twice, then dropped his gun with a sigh, “I guess this means you agreed to help.” His eyes slid over to the remaining Archangel, “Michael.”

“Dean.” Michael acknowledged with the barest of nods, “What are we helping with exactly?”

Dean looked over to Sam, “You didn’t tell them?”

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, “I told Lucifer who told me we would need Michael. But when I first got to Michael he was too busy being a pancake to listen to anything.” Dean frowned but Sam ignored the look to face Michael, “Dean killed Death. The Darkness was released.”

Michael went rigid, “A lot huh?”

Sam smirked, “Yup.”

Lucifer moved so he only had an arm around Sam’s waist, “For the record Michael, for vessel starts way more crap than mine does.” Sam laughed at the scowl on the elder Archangel’s face.

“It was either that or kill Sam.” Dean snapped making both Archangels look down at Dean in alarm, but he just plowed on, “And that wasn’t happening. Besides, you two were set to have a daddy sanctioned temper tantrum that was supposed to wipe out everything. So you have no room to talk.” He sighed, “Clearly we need to get you up to speed.”

With a small whoosh of displaced air Castiel appeared next to Dean with a stack of pizza boxes that went over his head, “Dean I didn’t know what you wanted so I got one of every…” he trailed off when he saw Dean’s irritated face, he looked around until he spotted the three on the balcony. “Michael, Lucifer.” He said with a respectful dip of his head.

“Castiel.” They replied in eerie unison.

Castiel looked to Sam to greet him but stopped. His eyes widened, “Sam.” he whispered reverently, “Are you an Archangel?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up soon, by Sunday for sure. I have already started on it and the inspiration for this is strong.
> 
> Update 1/23/2016: My grandfather fell on Thursday and I have had to take care of him since. I go back to school on Monday though and I will be be able to write between classes. Chapter 5 will be up by Tuesday night. Sorry for the delay!


	5. Family Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean's mature for once,
> 
> the elder Archangels try pizza for the first time,
> 
> and the author tries to summarize 5 1/2 seasons without boring you.

Dean looked to Castiel before glaring at Sam, “I guess Michael and Lucifer aren’t the only ones who need caught up.” He growled, he crossed his arms over his chest, “Well? Are you?”

Lucifer pulled Sam tight to his side, “Technically Sam is indeed an Archangel.”

“But not actually.” Dean deadpanned.

Michael winced, “Sam has all the power and form of an Archangel. He just doesn’t know how to use either.”

Dean stared at the three on the balcony for several tense seconds before letting out a big sigh and taking half of the pizza boxes from Castiel, “Come on, I’m going to need some alcohol for this conversation.” He said as he walked into the kitchen.

Castiel waited for the three Archangels to descend the stairs, “I assume you will cover this in our upcoming talk but I would like to congratulate you on you mating.” He said solemnly to Sam and Lucifer.

Sam grinned, “Thanks Cas!”

Lucifer nodded, “Yes, thank you brother.”

The seraph nodded and led the way to the kitchen with the rest of the pizza. There Dean had set down his stack of boxes and was throwing paper plates onto the table. He ducked down into the fridge and pulled out a six pack. “Sit.” He ordered absently, plunking the beer onto the table before flopping into a chair and opening a bottle. 

Michael nudged Sam into a middle chair and took a seat on his left as Lucifer sat down on Sam’s right. Dean eyed their positioning curiously as he took a swig of his beer and Castiel took his seat at Dean’s left. “So,” Dean said, finally letting his gaze rest on Sam, “Changing species?” Sam nodded, “How?”

Sam shifted a bit, “Turns out when you mate with an Archangel you turn into an angel.”

Dean’s grip on his beer tightened and he looked to Lucifer, “I assume he mated to you.” He said tightly.

“Yes.” Lucifer said evenly, “He did.”

“When exactly?” Dean asked with a choked off whine looking back to Sam.

“About a week before Cas dragged my body out of the cage.”

“What?!” both Dean and Cas shouted.

All three Archangels looked to Castiel in shock, even Dean looked to Cas after a second. The seraph that usually hid any emotions he might have looked to be having a mild panic attack. “How did I not notice?” he rasped staring at Sam, “Any angel worth their wings can feel Archangels when their near! I only felt two!”

Michael stood and circled the table to put a hand on Castiel’s shoulder, “Peace little brother.” He said gently, Castiel froze and Michael continued, “You wouldn’t have felt Sam’s grace at that point.”

Castiel looked up at Michael with wide eyes, “I wouldn’t have?”

Michael shook his head, “He was a seraph at that point.”

“I thought you said he was an Archangel.” Dean snapped, “Make up your mind.”

Michael winced, “He is. Now. He wasn’t when he and Lucifer first mated.” Michael turned fully to Dean, “When my father first told us about humans and Lucifer refused to bow to them, he made one attempt to get Lucifer interested in them. He offered to allow us Archangels to choose a mate from the humans and he would make them into angels so we could be with them forever. None of us have ever used that right until now but Father never rescinded the order so it has always remained a possibility.” Michael looked back to Castiel, “However it was only to make the chosen mate a seraph. Sam’s grace didn’t grow to Archangelic levels until about a month after you left.”

“And how did that happen?” Dean asked.

“We aren’t sure.” Lucifer said sheepishly.

“You aren’t sure?!” Dean shouted slamming his hands on the table and glaring at Lucifer, “You mating with him turned him into an angel in the first place and you aren’t sure?!”

Lucifer glared right back at Dean, “No! I’m not sure! Only Father can make an Archangel and he didn’t exactly visit the cage to make it so! It just happened one day!”

“And you didn’t think that was weird?” Dean snapped.

“Of course we did!” Michael admonished, “But Sam wasn’t in pain, his grace was stable, and there wasn’t anything else we could do about it in the cage!”

Dean looked to Sam, “You’re okay then?”

Sam smiled, “I’m fine jerk.”

Dean slumped in his chair, “Bitch.” He muttered before taking another drink of his beer.

Michael and Lucifer looked between two brothers, “That’s it?” Lucifer exclaimed.

Dean looked at Lucifer with a raised eyebrow, “What’s it?”

Michael blinked, “Well from what Sam’s told us about you we kinda expected a bigger freak out when we told you Sam was mated to Lucifer and was now an angel.”

Dean looked to Sam, “Gossiping Samantha?”

Sam grinned, “There isn’t a whole lot to do in the cage. We told stories and talked a lot.”

Dean rolled his eyes but looked back to the two eldest Archangels, “After the shit that’s gone down since seeing you guys last this is some of the best news I’ve had in a while. In fact the outlook is downright sunny. Sam apparently didn’t get tortured down there. You two obviously worked something out because there hasn’t been one mention of the apocalypse starting back up. As an Archangel Sam is harder to kill so I can ease up on the worry.” Sam snorted and Dean flipped him off without looking away, “You two seem willing to help with the Darkness and honestly I haven’t seen Sammy this happy in years.”

“You sap.” Sam said as Michael and Lucifer stared at Dean open mouthed.

Dean rolled his eyes, “I still want to know how you got cozy with Satan but we have bigger shit to deal with so I’ll settle with your safety and happiness for now.” He looked back to the elder Archangels, “Now grab some pizza, Cas brought way too much. We’ll get you caught up on what’s been going on since you’ve been gone.”

Michael shook himself, “We don’t need to eat.” He returned to his seat on the other side of Sam.

Dean rolled his eyes, “Neither does Cas or Sam apparently. Just eat what tastes good.” Dean watched in amusement as Michael and Lucifer looked to Sam who was already setting pizza boxes in front of each of them without even blinking. Lucifer and Michael watched Sam as he grabbed a slice from his veggie lovers and took a bite before imitating him. Michael made a small surprised noise as he ate his chicken and bacon pizza with white sauce. Sam smirked at him, watching as Michael quickly moved to second and third pieces. On Sam’s other side Lucifer was moaning through his spicy buffalo pizza.

“Have you two not had pizza before?” Dean chuckled.

“Never.” Michael said through his piece.

Dean rolled his eyes, “Well slow down. We aren’t going to take it from you.” Both Archangel’s froze with pizza half way to their mouths. Dean shook his head as they began to eat slower, “So where should we start?”

Lucifer lowered his pizza, “The cage is pretty closed off. Start right after we fell.”

Dean nodded, “Well, I went and tried to live a regular life with Lisa and her kid, Ben.”

“I was resurrected shortly after you fell. After I healed Dean and took Bobby home I retrieved Sam’s body.” Cas added in.

“My time soulless is still a bit fuzzy but our grandfather on our mother’s side was resurrected and I began hunting the alphas with them.” Sam said, “After a bit, some demons went after Dean so we joined back up.”

“After that we hunted a bit and I found out Sam was soulless.” Dean said, “Eventually I struck a deal with Death for him to get Sam’s soul from the cage.

Michael frowned, “What kind of deal?”

Dean rolled his eyes at Michael, “He wanted me to understand how much we are fucking the world order up by coming back to life again and again so he had me be him for a day and in exchange he sprung Sam with a wall between him and his memories of the cage.”

“It actually ended up blocking my memories and grace.” Sam threw in.

Dean turned to Castiel, “You want to take this next part?”

Michael and Lucifer looked to Castiel who looked pained, “When you fell, Heaven broke out in a Civil War.” The elder Archangel’s went rigid, “Raphael was on one side and I lead the other. To gain an edge I made a deal with Crowley to find Purgatory, he wanted the space and I would get the souls.” Castiel bowed his head, “We found a way in but Raphael showed up and demanded the souls. I gave them the wrong blood then opened the portal elsewhere. When I came back Dean, Sam, and Bobby were there trying to stop Raphael and Crowley. Raphael broke Sam’s wall putting him out of commission and I….” Castiel trailed off, he looked away from the table, “Having absorbed every soul from purgatory I went, off the deep end, as Dean said later. I smote Raphael and Crowley ran, I then claimed to be the new Father.” He ended in a mutter.

Michael blinked several times, “You claimed to be the new God?!” he growled.

Dean placed a hand on Castiel’s shoulder, “Hold on. He already knows he was in the wrong. He still feels guilty and all the crap that’s gone down has more than made up for it.”

Sam looked to Michael and said something softly in Enochian that had Michael softening and Castiel’s eyes widening, Lucifer’s hand slid under the table to take Sam’s. “Thank you Sam.” Castiel said softly and Dean gave Sam a grateful look even as Sam nodded.

Castiel let out a breath, “After some questionable acts Sam brought me around and they helped me put the souls back. However the leviathan held on and took control of my vessel.”

“They got into the water supply and Cas disappeared.” Dean said, taking over again, “Sam started to suffer hallucinations over what I now assume were fake memories.”

Lucifer and Michael turned to Sam who had a sudden fascination with his pizza, “Yeah,” he mumbled, “The pain from the separation caused altered memories and the altered memories caused hallucinations.” Lucifer’s grip on Sam’s hand tightened and Michael gripped his elbow gently, Sam looked between their questioning gazes, “Later.” He choked.

Dean hurried to draw the focus from Sam’s mini freak out, “So we found out how to hurt the leviathans then found out Cas was alive and memoryless. When Cas got his memories back he fixed Sam.”

Michael’s eyebrows shot up and he looked to Sam who had calmed down enough to snort, “The separation had dulled to a constant ache in my grace allowing the memories to begin fixing themselves, Cas took the rest of the separation build up allowing the memories to correct themselves in one fell swoop and the hallucinations to stop.” Michael nodded and looked back to Dean.

“After that Cas was crazy for a bit then we killed the head leviathan which sent me and Cas into Purgatory.” Dean summed up, he looked to Sam, “In light of recent events I assume you didn’t spend my time in purgatory lazing around with that Amy person.”

Sam laughed, “No. Amy really exists but all she did was fix up Riot after I hit him with the Impala. Riot traveled with me while I tried to find a way to pop the cage.”

Dean shook his head, “I still can’t believe you had a dog in my baby.” He grumbled.

Castiel frowned, “If you never had anything in depth with this Amelia and Riot travel with you, what happened to Riot when Dean returned from Purgatory?”

Sam brightened, “I knew Dean wouldn’t let me keep him but I couldn’t just give him up. I remember Lucifer used to make pocket realities when we shared headspace so we could talk without the demons over hearing. So after a few tries I made him his own little reality and I visit him whenever I have time.”

Dean rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah. We can meet your dog later. Back to Purgatory. I got out through a portal meant for wayward humans.” 

“I was retrieved by a garrison sent by Naomi.” Castiel said. 

“We met back up and found the demon tablet.” Dean said into a big bite of pizza, he washed it down with the remaining bit of beer in his bottle before popping his second. “Picked ourselves up a shiny new prophet who translated the tablet, allowing us to start the trials to close the gates of hell.” 

“In the meantime Naomi was looking for the Angel tablet.” Castiel said, shifting uncomfortably, “She reprogrammed to me so that finding it would be my sole purpose and we eventually did find it. Naomi took possession of it, even after I tried to run with the tablet.” 

Lucifer frowned, “How did you find it? It was in one of my crypts and everyone I've told about them is dead.” 

Castiel looked to him, “Apparently you told Azazel who passed it to his daughter Meg.” 

Lucifer frowned but nodded so Dean continued, “So we found Metatron who told us the final trial to close hell.” 

“He managed to convince me to complete the trials to close heaven so the angels could work out their stuff out without involving the humans.” Castiel chimed in, “But in the end he stole my grace and used it as part of the spell to make the Angels fall.” 

“While the angels fell I managed to make Sam stop the trials because it looked like they were killing him.” Dean said looking to Sam, “I assume there was more to that as well.” 

Sam winced, “When I interrogated Metatron he told me that the main gates may close but back doors would remain open for demons with enough power, so I figured that I would still be able to get in when I figured out how to open the cage. However, as I was completing the final trial I could feel my bond with Lucifer being compressed, it was incredibly painful and I did feel like I was dying. I remember passing out with you and then waking up to my grace being shredded and you trying to talk Gadreel into tricking me into letting him into me.” 

Lucifer looked murderously at Dean, “You were going to have that snake trick Sam into saying yes to him?” 

Dean sighed, “It wasn't my best moment but the doctor said Sam’s insides were destroyed and all I could do was wait for him to die. This angel told me he could heal Sam.”

Lucifer looked conflicted, “I understand wanting to save Sam but letting him trick his way inside Sam is worse. Without Sam having his full awareness of Gadreel he could've thrown Sam out of his own body!”

Dean nodded, “I would've done it to save Sam but I understand it was a bad thing. If I had another choice I would have taken that. I don't even know what happened to the angel and he told me his name was Ezekiel.” he eyed Sam, “Why were you calling him Gadreel? Are you why he disappeared?”

Sam laughed and Michael jumped in, “Even shredded Archangelic grace is powerful. We can detect lies without even trying, so Sam would've noticed if this angel was lying about his identity.”

“I hope he smote that asshole.” Lucifer grumbled, “Blaming me for corrupting Eve! I hated humans! Why would I go talk to the first of them? I didn't even go near them until Lilith.”

Sam squeezed Lucifer’s hand and put his free hand on Lucifer’s cheek. When their eyes met Sam grinned and said something softly in Enochian. “Sam!” Michael growled as Castiel blushed. Lucifer’s eyes flashed with grace and he pulled Sam into a fierce kiss.

Dean started choking on the bit of pizza he had in his mouth and Michael rolled his eyes. Dean finally managed to gulp air passed a lump of dough and cheese in his throat and Michael forced the two younger Archangels chairs apart with his grace.

Sam sat dazedly even as Lucifer glared at Michael, “Excuse you! We were in the middle of something!”

Michael rolled his eyes, “Later! Finish this first.”

“Fine.” Lucifer pouted.

Sam blushed and downed the rest of his beer before clearing his throat, “So after the angels fell….”

Dean snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, “Yes, after the angels fell Cas was human. We found him and brought him back here while we tried to find a way to reopen Heaven. Then Abaddon showed up.”

“Which led to Dean getting the Mark of Cain and the First Blade to kill her.” Sam said, slowly inching towards Lucifer. Michael stepped between them to keep them separate but didn't force their hands apart.

“I tried to hunt down Metatron.” Cas chimed in, “Thinking I could get him to reopen heaven.”

“I killed Abaddon and then I and Sam went to team up with Cas against Metatron.” Dean said eyeing Sam and Lucifer with a raised eyebrow.

“Metatron kill Dean and I brought him back here in hopes I would be able to resurrect him eventually.” Sam said.

“But the Mark resurrected me first, only as a demon.” Dean added.

“I and Sam looked for a way to get Dean free of the Mark.” Castiel said eventually, “Leading to finding the Book of the Damned. In Heaven the seraphs were attempting a democracy.”

“The book did little to help with the mark but Death said he could help, Death said he couldn't remove it but he could take Dean away so he couldn't hurt anybody else if he'd kill me first. Dean refused to kill me and killed Death instead. Death disappeared, The Darkness was freed, and I finally had a reason to free my perfect mate without my brother kicking up too much of a fuss. Can we go now?” Sam finished in one breath, his eyes not straying from Lucifer’s. Lucifer grinned at him, squeezing his hand.

Michael frowned at them, “I assume there are specifics.”

Lucifer narrowed his eyes at Michael and Sam scowled at him, “It's enough to be going off of Michael!”

“You can always bother Dean if you need more information before tomorrow!” Lucifer snapped.

“Let them go before they start making out on top of the pizza!” Dean said, Sam eyed the boxes and Lucifer licked his lips, his forked tongue making the sight even more surreal for Dean. “Now Michael!” Dean ordered. Michael stepped back in surprise at the order and Sam jumped towards Lucifer, the second their lips met they disappeared with a faint pop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it gets kind of choppy in there but I was trying to get the just of things for our out-of-the-loop Archangels as well as give you some of the things that make this story different without rewriting the entire show.
> 
> Also yes the Enochian parts will be addressed next chapter. I'm not great with translating over though and I want to give some extra background that would have made this LONG chapter LONGER.
> 
> Sorry this took so long, as I said before, my grandfather fell and I was taking care of him. 
> 
> Next chapter(Catching Up) will be up by Friday! And its all Samifer fluff and/or smut(I'll try...fingers crossed)!


	6. Catching Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael get that eyebrow down before it fly's off your face!
> 
> Some explanations and a touch of feels near the end.
> 
> Also, the author started to write porn but Lucifer's a worry wart and Michael wants some time with his flock!

Dean stared at the spot Sam and Lucifer had disappeared from, “Oh that’s going to take a bit to get used to.”

Michael rubbed a hand over his face, “At least you’ll have walls between you.” He groaned, “I was in the cage with them during their honeymoon phase.”

Dean groaned softly, “That sucks man.” He said with sympathy.

Michael picked up his pizza box, “Sam said a lot had happened but this is ridiculous.”

“A question if I may brother.” Castiel said politely. Michael raised an eyebrow at him in question, “I understand that when Sam’s soul first came back his grace was hidden behind the wall and when I had the souls and Leviathan in me they didn’t exactly make me observant, but afterword why would he still hide?”

Michael frowned, “I can think of many reasons but only Sam can say for sure. As I said earlier, Sam doesn’t know how to use his grace. His grace didn’t come with an innate ability to use it like we had and training wasn’t important in the cage since we thought we were going to be there forever or, at the very least, be freed at the same time. So Sam might have been afraid he would be expected to do things he had no clue how to do.” Michael shifted and pulled out a piece of his pizza, “For example, in the instance of the angels falling. I could have flown up to Heaven and broken the spell in an instant. Many angels associate that power with Archangels and rightfully so, but Sam doesn’t know how to use his grace so it could have taken him days or weeks to force the spell free.” Michael took a big bite of his pizza before pointing the remainder at Dean, “Or he could have been afraid of your reaction.”

“What?” Dean stuttered.

Michael raised his eyebrow at Dean, “Sam told us stories about your lives. Don’t try to tell me that your first reaction wouldn’t have been telling him that he was crazy or being manipulated. Even if he did show you his power, you probably would have thought something was wrong with him not that he was telling the truth. I’m assuming you only took it this well because I and Lucifer were here to explain it and Castiel brought it up first. If Sam had told you without us here it would have ended every differently.”

Dean hung his head with a sigh, “Yeah, I’d probably have put him back into the insane asylum.” He looked up to Michael again, “Your very protective of Sam.” He said eyeing him.

Michael laughed, “I can see where your mind is headed. While threesomes and foursomes are common in Heaven, I could never be in a relationship with Lucifer.” He leaned down and added Lucifer and Sam’s pizza boxes on top of his, “I’ll see you two in the morning so we can start a plan.” He disappeared.

Dean frowned, “Well that wasn’t exactly what I meant.”

“It’s a combination of things.” Castiel said drawing Dean’s attention, “Of the special Archangel connection and getting to know Sam in the cage.” Castiel was just now taking a bite of his loco luau pizza, “All the Archangels share a mental connection; at least the first four did, I see no reason that Sam wouldn’t be able to access that connection. Even if Sam wasn’t able to access the connection, with getting to know Sam in the Cage and Lucifer taking him as a mate, Michael has most likely accepted Sam into his flock.”

“Flock?” Dean questioned with a blink.

Castiel nodded, “By human thinking angels are a bit…‘animalistic’ in behavior. Though we are all technically related, we form groups within even the hierarchy structure of Heaven that we consider flocks. Usually 10-20 angels. The Archangels, however were held so high above us, their flock consisted of only themselves. After Lucifer’s fall their little flock fell apart, I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael missed it. So coming to an agreement with Lucifer and accepting Sam into his flock would make Michael very protective.” Castiel took a drink of his beer and wrinkled his nose at the taste, “It would also explain why they deferred to Sam over the pizza and will probably continue to do so over other things human. Also why Michael actually listened to Sam even though he out ranks him.”

“He did listen to Sam didn’t he?” Dean mused, “What did he say by the way?”

Castiel gave Dean a soft smile, “He told Michael that even though I was misguided that I did my best to protect the host while Michael couldn’t and Sam didn’t know how to. Even for one as young as your brother, that’s high praise from an Archangel.”

“Well he was right.” Dean said with a nod. He toyed with his bottle for a bit and stared through the floor in the silence. Dean cleared his throat awkwardly, “Um, so, what did he say to Lucifer that had them so…..revved up?”

Castiel went scarlet, “Like I said, angels are a bit animalistic. Sam told Lucifer that he had caught Gadreel for him.” Cas stammered, “I don’t know if Sam knows why he kept Gadreel instead of smiting him but bringing a mate an enemy to decide their fate is a gift that shows great love and deference.”

Dean’s eyes widened, “So bringing someone an enemy to punish is like an aphrodisiac to you guys?”

Cas shifted and his blush deepened, “Sort of….. more akin to foreplay.”

\------------------------------------------------Samifer-----------------------------------------

Lucifer bounced back onto a large bed with Sam landing in his lap. Lucifer immediately slid his hands up the back of Sam’s shirt to feel his mate’s bare skin as they kissed. Sam straddled Lucifer’s lap, managing to get closer. Lucifer ripped Sam’s flannel and threw it across the room, “Wings Sam.” Lucifer said huskily as his hands slid over the hunter’s muscled form, “I could never get them right in the illusion. Show me.”

Sam nipped at Lucifer’s forked tongue, “You too.” He murmured. As one they let their wings manifest around them; throwing light, heat, and cold around the room simultaneously. Sam let out a throaty moan and wasted no time in sinking his fingers into the think feathers of the largest set of his mate’s six shinning pure white wings. Pleasure shot through Lucifer and his grace flared.

Carefully, as not to shake Sam’s hands from his feathers, Lucifer curled his wing tips inward to trace the streaks of white and gold that shot through Sam’s rich dark chocolate wings. Sam trembled and he let out the most adorable squeak Lucifer had ever heard. Lucifer wrapped his arms around Sam’s waist and stroked the tiny feathers that sat where Sam’s three sets of wings met his back.

Sam melted into Lucifer with a moan, his wings going limp over his mates, letting their grace and feathers mingle. “Missed this.” Sam moaned into Lucifer’s shoulder.

Lucifer let out a soft hum in agreement, he shredded his shirt to oblivion with his grace and sighed dreamily as their connection healed and grew on contact. Slowly, their bond strengthened to where it had been in the cage when they had first mated. “Love you Sam.”

Sam smiled happily and rubbed his thumbs over the soft feathers under his hands, Lucifer shuttered and bucked up into Sam. The younger archangel pulled back enough so he could look his mate in the eye, “Would you like him now?” Sam purred.

Lucifer tilted his head, “You really have him?”

Sam pouted, “You doubted me?”

“Of course not.” Lucifer said, “But I wasn’t sure if you had him here. And I never really expected you to remember the angel mating things. Michael mostly told you to see if he could make you blush.”

Sam smirked, “I saw the way your wings shuddered at the mention of some of the thing Michael talked about. Of course I paid attention.”

Lucifer smiled and tugged gently on Sam’s primaries, “Well I’ve got to say just the idea is extremely hot.” Sam squirmed in Lucifer’s lap, making the older Archangel moan as their erections rubbed together. Lucifer pressed their foreheads together, “Please tell me that you kept that idiot somewhere foul.”

Sam gazed at him through half lidded eyes, “He’s in a pocket reality designed to play my altered memories of the cage.”

Lucifer’s grip on Sam tightened and he pulled back, “I thought those were put right?” he said, worry filling his voice.

Sam nodded, “They were. But I still get flashes from them every so often, so I feed them into the pocket reality on replay.”

Lucifer studied his face carefully, “Michael come here.” He called, power filling his voice.

Sam sighed and rolled off of Lucifer’s lap to lay on his wing, “I’m fine,” he insisted, “I just want to be with you right now.”

Lucifer curled the wing Sam was laying on around him and smiled down at Sam, “I’m not going anywhere and Michael won’t be here long. I just want to be sure you’re okay.” He raised a hand as Sam opened his mouth to assure Lucifer again, “You say you are but I just want to make sure.” Sam still looked unconvinced, “Please Sammy.”

Sam wavered in the face of Satan’s worried puppy eyes and he sighed, “Fine, but only because your worry is smothering and I love you.” Lucifer beamed at him. Sam slid from the cocoon of Lucifer’s wing and was back on top of him in a flash, he straddled Lucifer’s legs and leaned in so his mouth was right at Lucifer’s ear, “But the second he leaves I expect you to pound me into this bed.” He purred.

“I didn’t expect to see you two until morning.” Michael said, appearing perched on Sam’s desk and effectively cutting off Lucifer’s groan. Sam slid off of Lucifer to sit on the side of the bed and righted his wings with a small shake. Michael set the pizza boxes on the desk, “What’s up?”

“Lucifer’s worried.” Sam announced.

Michael looked to Lucifer, “About what?”

“Yeah Luce.” Sam said, smirking at his still gaping mate, “About what?”

Lucifer shook himself and sat straighter, “Sam.” He rasped weakly, causing Sam’s smirk to widen into a grin and Michael to raise an eyebrow. Lucifer cleared his throat, “Sam.” He said stronger this time, looking directly at Michael, “Even after Castiel fixed the buildup Sam has been getting flashes of the altered memories. Enough of them to fuel a pocket reality.”

Michael looked to Sam, “How often?”

“Once or twice a week since they were healed initially.” Sam said with a shrug, “They’re scary in the moment but when they leave I can remember the truth and I’m fine.”

Michael nodded, “It was most likely just the strain from the bond flaring up when one of you were feeling particularly lonely. It shouldn’t happen anymore now that your together again.” He eyed Sam carefully, “The hallucinations haven’t come back have they?”

“No.” Sam said shortly.

Lucifer crawled up behind Sam and rested his chin on Sam’s shoulder, “What was it?” he asked softly.

Sam went rigid and Michael went from the desk to sitting on Sam’s other side immediately, “Sam?” he questioned gently.

“It was you two.” Sam said quietly and the two elder Archangels tensed, their eyes meeting. Sam looked to Michael, “The hallucination that looked like you kept telling me that you hated me for taking us down to the cage and that you never accepted me into your flock and that I was disgusting for thinking you would accept someone so tainted.” Michael stared at him wide-eyed but Sam ploughed on, looking to Lucifer, “The hallucination of you told me you never mated to me and if you had you would have ripped my wings off as not to offend the other angels with my presence.”

“Oh Sam.” Michael said softly, his deep red wings manifested with a soft woosh and, as one, he and Lucifer wrapped their arms and wings around Sam. “You know none of that is true right?”

Sam nodded jerkily, “Logically, yes I know that they’re wrong. But they felt so real at the time, just like the other memories. It hurt so much hearing you say those things.”

Lucifer stroked Sam’s wings soothingly, spreading warmth and love rather than the blinding pleasure from before, “I will never regret mating with you.” He said softly, “And I would never hurt your gorgeous wings.”

Michael smiled at Sam, “And while I would prefer not to have been in the cage, it gave me a chance to get my brother back that I truly wouldn’t have had otherwise.” He rubbed gentle circles on Sam’s back, “It also gave me the chance to rebuild my flock and add a very valuable member.” 

Sam let out a shaky huff, “Not that valuable. Look how long it took me to get you guys out.”

Lucifer snorted, “People have been trying to spring me for centuries. You did it in a couple of years while dealing with your brother, various ‘big bads’, constant pain over a strained bond, and suppressing grace without proper training.”

Michael nodded, “You did excellent Sam. I will never regret accepting you fully into my flock.” They sat there for a while; a meld of flesh and feathers, grace pulsing around them in calming waves, completely at peace in the moment.

Finally Sam sniffed dryly, “Well shit, this killed the mood.”

Michael chuckled, drawing back to look Sam in the eye, “You guys will have plenty of time for that tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Lucifer whined, brushing his wings along Sam’s, “You aren’t leaving?”

Michael shook his head at Lucifer, “I think we need a little time together as a flock after that.”

Lucifer grumbled but scooted further onto the bed, Sam followed him and sat at his side, “You’re the one who called him.” He whispered.

Michael rolled his eyes at the two, “Sam looks like he hasn’t been groomed since he left us last time.” He said causing Sam to blush and Lucifer to frowned, “Obviously that’s something that needed to be remedied anyway.” He said crawling onto the bed.

“Fine.” Lucifer sighed, though a happy smile drew across his face. When one member of the flock was groomed they all were and it had been a long time since they had just got to sit and talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I got caught up in reading another fanfiction and completely neglected everything else. To make up for it I have posted a bit of a side story, about Sam catching Gadreel. Its part 2 of the series.
> 
> Next chapter should be up shortly.


	7. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Porn, Politics, and Plans.
> 
> Sorry this took so long but I tried to write smut! Results are in!

Dean stood in the doorway to Sam’s room, examining the scene before him with a mixture of amusement, exasperation, and confusion. “Dean.” Castiel called from down the hall, Dean turned to him and motioned him to stay quiet. When Castiel reached him and peered into the room with Dean he gave a small smile.

Sam was curled up in the center of the bed, looking surprisingly small despite his huge frame. Lucifer was plastered to his back, his arms around Sam’s waist, holding him close with his face buried in Sam’s hair. Michael lay on Sam’s other side, one arm under Sam’s head and the other thrown over both of the younger Archangels. All three were breathing slowly in unison and had their eyes closed. 

“Are they really asleep?” Dean whispered to Castiel.

“It would appear so.”

“I thought angels didn’t need to sleep.” Dean hissed.

“We don’t need to but we can enjoy it.” Cas answered easily.

Dean watched Michael’s hand tighten its grip on Lucifer, “Michael said he wouldn’t be in a relationship with his brother.” Dean muttered.

“A romantic relationship.” Castiel quantified, “If they really are a flock, sometimes they’ll sleep together. Just sleep. The closeness helps the flock feel safe.”

Dean studied the three, with their peaceful expressions and completely relaxed forms. He nodded, he remembered sharing a bed with Sam when they were younger to ward off bad dreams. He smirked and was secure enough in his masculinity to admit that his first thought was ‘adorable’. “Heaven’s greatest weapons my ass.” He chuckled softly.

In the next instant the two unused pillows flew off the bed and hit him in the face. Dean sputtered and looked back into the room to see Sam watching him with just one eye open, “Jerk.”

Dean just smirked, “Get up bitch. We have stuff to do.”

Sam groaned, “No. I’m comfortable.” He snuggled back into Lucifer, “Come back never.”

“If you won’t get up I’ll just wake your bed warmers.” Dean said with a grin, Sam flipped him off.

Castiel shifted uneasily, “Dean, that’s not a good idea.”

“Oh come on Cas, “Dean said rolling his eyes, “I’m surprised they aren’t up already. We obviously woke Sam up.”

“They sleep like the dead.” Sam muttered, “Don’t try to wake them up Dean. I’m sure you don’t want to start the day with broken bones.”

“Oh please.” Dean said striding into the room, “If I could deal with your cranky teenage ass I can deal with them.”

“Dean no!” Castiel said just as Dean’s hand landed on Michael’s arm.

The room exploded into movement. Michael shot up and grabbed Dean by the throat as his wings manifested. Michael flew Dean into a wall, holding him in a crushing grip several feet off the ground with his wings flared to block the view of the other two. Lucifer had woken up the second his brother had and had wrapped Sam protectively in his wings.

Dean stared down at Michael with wide eyes, Michael’s eyes burned with barely withheld grace and Dean could see no recognition in them. Dean let out a low whine as Michael pressed him harder to the wall, leaving him gasping for air and pain shooting down his back.

“Dean.” Castiel hissed from the doorway, “Lower your gaze.” Dean immediately dropped his eyes to the floor and the grip on his throat eased slightly.

On the bed, Sam managed to get his head out of the cocoon of Lucifer’s feathers despite his mate’s growls, “Michael don’t kill him.” Michael and Lucifer both growled at Sam in Enochian, Sam just rolled his eyes, “He’s an idiot who won’t listen, not a threat.” Michael lowered his wings a bit and looked to Sam who met his gaze, “Come back Michael, we’re fine just a bit startled. You don’t really want to hurt Dean.”

Michael dropped Dean and flew to back to stand by the bed, Sam settled a hand in Michael’s feathers, “Castiel, take Dean. I’ll calm them down and we’ll be out soon.” Castiel bowed his head and took Dean from the room quickly. 

The second they were gone Sam looked up to Michael again, Michael’s eyes were still filled with grace but it was slowly clearing and the tension was draining from him. Sam turned to focus on Lucifer who still had all six pearlescent wings wrapped tight around him. “Lucifer.” He said gently.

Lucifer tightened his hold on Sam, “I thought someone was going to take you from me again.” He said miserably.

Sam’s grace ached then pressed close to Lucifer’s, he rubbed at the older Archangel’s feathers, and kissed him gently. “I’m right here.” He assured.

“And I won’t let anyone separate you two again.” Michael said above them. He had settled down enough that his eyes had cleared and his wings were held in a more relaxed position. Sam looked up at Michael gratefully and Michael smirked at him, “I can’t handle anymore of Lucifer’s moping.”

“Shut up Michael.” Lucifer groused but his wings released Sam and he relaxed at the statement. He sat up, still being sure to keep in contact with Sam, “What did he want anyway?”

“He said we had stuff to do so I assume he wanted to talk about the plan.” Sam said, “Insisted on waking us up.”

Michael shook his head, “He can’t do that. You might not be able to call me back. He was only a threat, I didn’t recognize him as anything else.”

Sam nodded, “I’ll talk to him. I don’t think Castiel has explained much about flocks to him.”

Michael sighed, “Actually, I should probably do it. So I can apologize for trying to kill him.” he smirked down at Sam and Lucifer, “I’m sure you two can figure out something to do while I go talk to him.” Sam blushed a bit and Lucifer grinned, “Just be in the kitchen in twenty.” He disappeared.

Lucifer looked down at Sam, “Whatever shall we do?”

Sam smiled, “Just a quickie or can you deal with your present in twenty minutes?”

Lucifer let out a small moan, “That will definitely take more than twenty minutes.” He leaned over Sam, “That I will draw out for hours.” He breathed over Sam’s neck, he pressed a kiss to the jugular in front of him before applying his teeth to it. Sam mewed and Lucifer chuckled, “Your body was taken away so early, maybe I should just spend the next twenty minutes marking you as much as possible.” Sam moaned, “Yes I think I will.”

In the next second Lucifer had Sam flipped over and pulled him up onto his hands and knees. “To think you started only wanting that one syllable from me.” Sam mused, Lucifer destroyed Sam’s jeans with a flick of grace. Sam hummed, “I hope this outcome is better than your original plans.” He slid his arms forward and wiggled his ass a bit.

“Infinitely.” Lucifer said, kissing slowly down Sam’s lower back. He used his grace to lube his fingers liberally before pushing two into Sam who keened at the sudden stretch. “Beautiful.” Lucifer breathed in Enochian, he reached his free hand up and rubbed between Sam’s shoulder blades. The younger’s wings manifested in a rush, Lucifer tangled his fingers into the feathers of the closest wing and used the wave of pleasure it sent over Sam to plunge in two more fingers.

Sam’s wings beat weakly as he whined and pushed back into Lucifer. After a few more minutes of stretching Sam was writhing on the bed, “Luce please!”

Lucifer chuckled, “Please what Sam?”

“Ask me again.”

Lucifer froze making Sam whine again and try to push back on the fingers still in his ass, “What?” Lucifer rasped.

“Ask me to be yours.” Sam said roughly, “Ask to be inside me.”

Lucifer’s breath hitched, even in the cage once they had mated Sam had never said yes again, using anything and everything but that word and definitely not in that context. Lucifer slid his fingers free and destroyed his pants quickly as he lined himself up to Sam, “Do you consent to be my vessel?” he breathed reverently over Sam.

“Yes!” Sam shouted and both Lucifer and his grace surged forward. Lucifer slid into Sam all in one go and his grace fully engulfed Sam’s own.

In the next instant Sam came, his ass clenching around the hard cock inside it and his grace exploding within Lucifer’s. Lucifer shouted Sam’s name as the intense sensations threw him over the edge just seconds after Sam. The combined shockwave of their grace blew out all the glass in the room and took out the generators running the bunker. 

Lucifer slid free of Sam’s body and lay down next to him as he collapsed. Sam sighed happily and moved so that his head was on Lucifer’s chest and their wings mingled around them. Lucifer traced sigils lazily against Sam’s back, humming in contentment, “What made you want to say yes to me again?” he asked softly.

“You liked that huh?” Sam purred, he rubbed his cheek lightly against Lucifer’s chest, “Looking for ways to spring you I found all sorts of interesting things. One was the diary of a human that was in a three some with two angels. Apparently sometimes the angels would share a vessel and had grace sex while simultaneously having sex with the human. Considering sharing a vessel gave me so many ideas.”

Lucifer shivered, “It would certainly be interesting and we haven’t really gotten to exploring grace sex without our vessels in the way, but why not just ask about it? You do realize that you haven’t used that word while talking to me since you accepted me the first time right? Even after I told you I wouldn’t be able to fully possess you like that after you became an angel.”

Sam looked a little sheepish, “At first it was on purpose,” he admitted, “But after a while it became habit. While we were apart I realized I was being stupid. I got to know you in the cage and I love you, if I was still human and you needed me to I would say yes without hesitation.”

“Sam.” Lucifer breathed.

Sam broke out in a grin, “Of course talking about it now I realize I can use it to rile you up when I’m horny since I reintroduced it during hot sex.”

Lucifer snorted but gazed down at Sam lovingly, “Of course.” He leaned down and drew Sam into a languid kiss, “Thank you.” He murmured against Sam’s lips and the younger hummed.

“Well isn’t this sweet?” came Michael’s amused voice. Sam dropped his head to Lucifer’s chest again with a groan, they were sufficiently covered by their wings but being interrupted during their post-coital bliss was always a touch embarrassing. Michael was perched on the desk like he had been the previous night and was watching them with a small smile. “You two blew out the generators.”

Lucifer looked smug, “It was really great sex.”

Sam leveled a bitch face at Michael, “And I’d like to continue to enjoy the after-glow. We have five more minutes.”

Michael snorted, “Dean wants to make breakfast and apparently you’re the only one who knows how to fix the generators.” He smirked, “He assured me he would barge in here and, I’m quoting here, ‘use the banishing sigil to get your ass moving’.”

Sam scowled, “Fine.” He quirked an eyebrow at Michael, “Leave or I’ll start waxing lyrical about how wonderfully sore your brother has made me as I get dressed.” Michael pinked slightly in the cheeks and disappeared.

“You’re very good at ordering him around.” Lucifer laughed as Sam untangled himself from their cozy position.

Sam rolled off the bed, “I don’t think of it as ordering, just offering him sufficient motivation to follow my suggestions.” He went to his dresser and let his wings fade before quickly pulling on clothes.

Lucifer appeared behind him without his wings but with fresh clothes, “Nah, I think he likes following your orders. No one had even attempted to give him orders since Father.”

Sam turned to Lucifer and slid his arms around his neck, “As long as he doesn’t always follow without question I will continue to order him around since it seems to amuse you so much.”

Lucifer wrapped his arms around Sam’s waist, “Are you often looking for ways to amuse me?”

“Yes.” Sam purred with a slight grin. Lucifer moaned and Sam moved them in the next instant to the bunkers generator room. Sam slid free of Lucifer with a little laugh at his mates growl before leaning down to flip a couple switches on the side of the generator, all the power came back on with a loud hum.

Lucifer plastered himself to Sam’s back, letting his hard cock settle against Sam’s ass. “Ward it.” He said huskily, “Or we’ll have to do this every time we have sex.”

Sam splayed his hands on top of the generator and let his grace carve the necessary sigils into the metal as he ground back against Lucifer, “Yes.” He said again, a tad breathless.

Lucifer pulled him up tight against him the second the warding engaged, “Should have known you would abuse the word.” He muttered in Sam’s ear as he rocked into Sam.

“Yes.” Sam chuckled, Lucifer growled and bit hard into the crook of Sam’s neck making the younger whine and come instantly, pushing back into him in a hard grind. Lucifer came with a curse muffled by Sam’s skin.

Lucifer pulled back and licked over the blood he had drawn, Sam’s body had already closed up the wound, “Don’t let it heal fully.” Lucifer ordered in Sam’s ear, “I want my mark on you.” Sam moaned but stopped the healing just as it scared. Lucifer quickly cleaned their release from their clothes with his grace, “Now,” he said, not releasing Sam from his hold, “do you agree to use the word appropriately? Such as when we will have time to relocate and be left alone for a long period of time?”

Sam snorted, “I don’t know. Do you agree to stop giving me such ridiculously perfect openings to use it?”

Lucifer grinned against Sam’s ear, “Unless I want to rile you up as well.”

Sam laughed and melted back into Lucifer’s hold, “Agreed.”

“Good.” The older Archangel took them to kitchen without releasing the younger. 

They appeared in the doorway directly in front of Dean who yelped and jumped about a foot in the air. “Jesus!” Dean shouted, “Don’t do that!” he moved around them, “I’m sure becoming an Archangel didn’t hinder your ability to walk!”

Sam laughed, “Sorry Dean. I just didn’t want to move.” He leered, wriggling a little to emphasize the blond wrapped around his back.

Dean faked a gag, “Keep it in your room Sam! I want to see you happy but I don’t want to see you happy. Get me?” he leaned into the fridge to pull a covered bowl from the bottom shelf and a package of bacon from the door.

Sam guffawed a laugh, “Yeah. No kitchen sex while you’re here.”

Dean slammed the fridge door, “No kitchen sex ever! Dude there’s food here!”

“Never bothered you.” Sam said watching as Dean took the bowl and bacon over to the griddle.

“I didn’t have my own kitchen then.” Dean said easily. Sam snorted but dragged Lucifer over to a chair, he pushed him down before sitting in his lap; Lucifer wrapped his arms around Sam again and settled his chin on Sam’s shoulder happily. They watched as Dean put two pounds of bacon on the griddle before starting to measure out pancake batter. Once the griddle was full Dean turned to them and huffed, “Really bitch? Lap sitting?”

“Shut up jerk.” Sam said rolling his eyes, “You said no kitchen sex. You said nothing about this.”

“It’s totally fine Samantha. Just don’t usually see six foot something dudes doing it.” Dean smirked.

Sam returned it, not dropping his brothers gaze an inch, “Most six foot something dudes aren’t mated to the Morningstar.” Lucifer grinned at Dean over Sam’s shoulder and squeezed Sam gently at the use of one of his favorite titles.

Dean rolled his eyes, “Name dropping won’t make it any less weird.”

“In our true forms I’m taller than him.” Lucifer said with a smile, “Does that make it any less weird?”

Dean considered but shook his head, “Nope, I can’t see your true forms so all I can picture is this.” He shrugged, “To each their own. So where is Michael?”

Lucifer mimicked Dean’s shrug, “He left after he told us to fix the generator. Maybe he went with Castiel.”

Dean frowned, “I don’t think so. He told Cas to go to Heaven and gather who ever took over upstairs and to bring them here.”

Sam shifted slightly and Lucifer pressed his grace to Sam’s reassuringly, “Ah,” Lucifer said, “Then Michael most likely went to get our halos.”

Dean turned to flip the pancakes and bacon, “I was under the impression that angels didn’t really have halos.”

“Seraphs don’t.” Lucifer said, “Or at least not in the way you think of them. They just glow a bit brighter near their head because that’s where the grace congregates in our normal forms. However we Archangels have halos given to us by Father, the kind that you humans seem to think we all have. We usually only use them on formal occasions. Think of them as a sort of dress uniform.”

Dean turned a little to look at Lucifer, “If you’re doing it here it can’t be that formal. I’m sure angel court isn’t usually held over breakfast.”

Lucifer laughed, “No, it used to be held in the throne room. Michael said he hadn’t used it since I was thrown out though. We will probably use the library.”

“Still.” Dean said, “I don’t understand why you would need your dress blues for something so informal.”

“To show unity.” Came Michael’s voice, they turned to see him standing in the doorway to the war room. He was holding a long flat glowing white box that had four golden circles looped together on the top of it. “Even in the informal setting the others will see the significance. When Lucifer fell I kept his halo, Raphael never put his on again, and Gabriel took his when he disappeared. Seeing Lucifer with his on again will show the others I and Lucifer have made up and that he will sit in his former place of authority in Heaven. And of course seeing Sam with his on will stop most from thinking they can undermine him.”

Sam and Dean frowned, “Sam has a halo?” Dean questioned, “When did he get that?”

Lucifer grinned and squeezed Sam tight, “I and Michael guessed that when he was made an Archangel that a halo would appear for him.”

Michael nodded with a happy smile, “It was right next to yours Lucifer.” He walked over to them and opened the box so they could see. Four crystalline circlets sat in little indentations of crushed shimmering silver velvet, one indentation was empty and in another indentation that held a blue tinged circlet the velvet had turned dull gray. Michael set the box on the table near the younger Archangels and picked up the white tinged circlet and grinned at Lucifer as he held it over his head. The circlet glowed bright and stayed about an inch above his head when Michael released it.

Sam stared at Lucifer’s halo, mesmerized, “How do they work?”

Lucifer chuckled, “They’re perfectly attuned to our grace. When they get near enough to it they stick and hover.” He tilted his head and Sam watched, fascinated, as the halo stayed over the crown of his head. “Of course Father does know how to make a functional accessory. They are indestructible and can do quite a lot of damage when thrown.”

Michael snorted, “The only reason we know that, of course, was because Gabriel liked to play with his instead of leave it on. He got angry at Raphael one day and threw it at him because it’s what was in his hand at the time, broke two of Raphael’s wings and put a dent in his core that didn’t go away for several years.” He smiled at Sam, “Would you like yours now?” Sam shifted uncertainly before looking down into Lucifer’s grace bright eyes and nodding curtly. Michael went to the box again and pulled out a white and gold tinged circlet, he held it over Sam’s and it flared with light. Michael released it and it floated an inch above Sam’s head.

Sam glanced upward and managed to see the glowing edge of his halo before looking shyly to Lucifer, “So? Do I look weird?”

Lucifer kissed his softly, “You look perfect. After we met I often pictured how you would look with my halo when we joined.”

Sam smiled and laughed, “You’re hopeless.”

Lucifer grinned, “Not hopeless, just creating a new kink.” Sam snorted.

Michael rolled his eyes and picked up the red tinged circlet, he held it over his own head and it glowed red before hovering in place. “You’re both hopeless. No talking about new kinks in front of the seraphs.”

Dean snorted from where he was still making breakfast, “Maybe you two should talk about them. Just to get the sticks out of the seraphs asses.”

Michael sent Dean a disapproving look but Lucifer looked elated, “See Michael! Dean thinks a little corruption will do them some good!”

“Even if that’s true, now is not the time Lucifer.” Michael snapped.

Lucifer pouted so Sam tilted his head until their eyes met, “And I don’t think porn would be the best thing to start with. Maybe start with something smaller.” He smirked, “It took us forever to get the stick out of Cas’s ass.”

“I must respectfully disagree Princeps Sam. It took me far less time than I have been alive.” Came Castiel’s low controlled voice, everyone looked to see him standing in the doorway Michael had come through. His eyes were locked on the three Archangels, he bowed at the waist, “The current leaders are here. I asked them to wait outside to make sure you were here and ready for them.”

Dean raised an eyebrow at Cas, “Princeps?”

Castiel looked to Dean, “It’s the proper way to acknowledge the Archangels. Without using Enochian that would be damaging to your ears of course.”

Lucifer looked to Dean, “It means chief in Latin.”

Dean rolled his eyes but nodded, he looked directly at Sam, “Don’t expect me to call you that. I’m your big brother. You’re always going to be my Sammy. No matter how many wings you sprout.”

Sam turned red, “It’s bad enough Castiel called me that.”

Michael smiled at Sam, “I’m sorry Sam. You’ll have to get used to it. At least while you wear your halo. The rest of the time they should just call you your name.”

Lucifer ran his hand down Sam’s cheek, “You deserve the respect. Even if you had not gotten the promotion you are mated to me.”

Sam rolled his eyes, “I didn’t mate to you because I wanted respect. I mated to you because I love you.” Lucifer’s eyes and halo flashed with grace and he murmured softly in Enochian to Sam who relaxed.

Michael closed the box, “We should go into the library for this.” Dean hurriedly shut griddle off and walked toward them. 

They all raised an eyebrow at his urgency, “What?” Dean said, “You think I’m going to miss angel court? All that drama has got to be better than Dr. Sexy!” he looked to Sam, “And its Sam’s first day as princess!” he mocked.

“Princeps.” Castiel corrected.

Dean rolled his eyes, “It was a joke Cas.” 

They all walked into the library, Sam and Lucifer hand in hand. Michael motioned at the room and the tables disappeared, deep red curtains appeared to hang in front of the books and filing cabinets, and three high back chairs done in a dark wood appeared sitting in front of the large telescope. Michael surveyed the finished product happily, “Oh yes, this makes a very nice makeshift court room.”

“My library.” Sam whined softly, looking at the rich thick curtains draped in front of the high book shelves unhappily.

“You library?” Dean snorted.

Sam huffed, “Alright ours. But you mostly use it to watch porn and drink.”

Michael smiled, “I’ll put it all back to rights when I’m done Sam. I know you like the look of it normally.” He motioned to the chairs, “Sit.” Before turning to Castiel, “Lead them in, do you know the protocol?” Castiel nodded gravely, “When you finish with the presentation step behind me to my left.”

Castiel’s eyes widened slightly, “It’s an honor.” He bowed slightly at the waist and disappeared. 

Lucifer had nudged Sam to the chair furthest to the right while he took the one in the center, Michael walked over and sat in the one furthest left. “Let me do the talking.” Michael said, Lucifer snorted but nodded at the glare sent his way. “We just want to reinstate some authority. We won’t try to do anything more drastic at the moment. We know we’ll need to reform a lot of things anyway. Dean.” Michael looked to where Dean was leaning against a pillar, “You’re welcome to stay there but if you are fully with us and wish the seraphs to know that, you need to stand three paces behind Sam on his right.” Dean snorted but complied, he stood behind Sam with his feet spread and his arms crossed over his chest.

In the next second Castiel appeared at the far archway of the library with four other angels, two in female vessels and two in male. Castiel led them forward then stepped to the lines right as they came to a stop in front of the Archangels, “May I present to Altus Princeps Michael, Princeps Lucifer, and Princeps Samuel, the current heads of Heaven; Cherub Miniel, Seraph Remiel, Seraph Puriel, and Rit Zien Jeremiel.” All five angels bowed at the waist to the Archangels before Castiel walked smoothly to stand behind Michael on his left. 

“Welcome.” Michael said, his voice light but carrying an underlying authority that made you want to sit up and take notice. “It has been a while since we have held court, even a slightly informal one. However since we were recently freed from the Cage we thought it would be best to touch base. You are currently in charge and we will not be taking that from you immediately. Heaven is in dire need of a reformation and it will get that. However before we do that we will take care of the Darkness.” Instantly some of the tension in the angels standing before them drained, “Until then we will not interfere with Heaven unless you begin to cause problems here on Earth. Are we clear?” The four nodded solemnly, “Do you have questions?” 

Michael gestured to the first female angel on the right, her vessel had short blond hair in a pixie cut with pink highlight outlining her face and was relatively small and compact. She stepped forward and bowed, “Greetings Principes. I am Miniel, current Head Cherub.” She straightened, “How, may I ask, were you returned to us?”

“Princeps Samuel was able to open the cage.” Michael said simply, not offering any more detail.

Miniel’s eyes locked on Sam, “With all respect Princeps Samuel, but are you not a Winchester? How have you ascended?”

Michael nudged Sam with the Archangel bond and Sam answered, “I am a Winchester and I mated to Princeps Lucifer.” Sam mentally pat himself on the back for remembering the honorific. He watched as Miniel’s eyes flared pink before she nodded and stepped back.

Michael gestured to the male next to Miniel but he waved a hand toward the next female in line, Michael nodded at her and she stepped forward. She stepped forward, her vessel was tall and broad with an angular jaw; brown hair was cropped close to her head. She bowed, “Greetings Principes. I am Puriel, current Head of the Army.” She straightened, going to full attention, “No disrespect to you Principes but why was the traitor Castiel sent to summon us?”

Castiel tensed and Dean narrowed his eyes at the angel, Michael responded though, “We have not be able to go over the recent Histories in the Library. We were only released last evening. However until we can go over them we will reserve judgement. Then, if the entirety of this council agrees, we will assign a punishment. We sent him because he was the only one who was here. The only one who has stayed with the Winchesters or apparently used any wisdom after the Darkness was released, as no one else seems to have questioned the ones who made first contact with the Darkness.” Michael said coolly, he gestured to the last male in line, not even giving Puriel a chance to ask another question. 

The male stepped forward as Puriel stepped back, fuming. The male’s vessel was average height and was bald, he bowed “Greetings Principes. I am Jeremiel, current Head Healer.” He straightened up, “While we did not question those in first contact we did find the bodies of some who were made Unclean by the Darkness as well as many who healed. The Darkness being before my time I was not aware there was a way to fully cleanse a soul who was tainted. Is that a power you possess or is there a way to heal them?”

“Holy fire should cleanse them enough to function. An extra addition of grace should be enough to full take the taint away.” Lucifer said easily.

Jeremiel seemed to think for a second then nodded and stepped back; Michael stood, “Very well. We shall take care of the darkness then we shall go to Heaven to begin the reformation. Your current structure will be taken into account as we think on this subject. Dismissed.”

The four angels turned and walked to the archway before disappearing. Dean let out a huge sigh, “Well I expected a lot more excitement. I’m not sure that was even worth me having cold pancakes.”

Lucifer laughed and Sam rolled his eyes, “It’s not like Michael can eat them anyway.”

Dean scowled, “If this is about the whole not eating thing again, I’ll repeat...”

“No.” Sam interrupted, “It would be unseemly for Michael to partake in cannibalism.” Lucifer laughed harder and Michael put his head in his hands.

Castiel tilted his head, “I don’t understand. He is not a pancake.”

Lucifer stood, his laughter simmering to an amused chuckle, “Nope he failed at that.” 

Michael shot to his feet, “I didn’t fail!” he tackled Lucifer and they rolled past one of the curtains in a fight.

“Do I even want to know?” Dean asked watching the curtains thrash.

Sam sighed and stood up, “Probably not.” He said easily, walking back to the kitchen with Dean and Castiel. Sam sat in the chair by halo case as Dean resumed cooking, Castiel sat across the table watching Dean and glancing toward the library every time there was a crash or grunt interlaced with the arguing Enochian. Before long Dean was serving the pancakes and bacon to Castiel and Sam with the fight still going on in the background. They ate, just listening before Dean fixed Sam with a look, “Are you going to do something?” he asked pointing his syrupy fork toward the library.

Sam took a bite of his crispy bacon before tilting his head toward the library, “Michael come study pancakes so you won’t fail next time.” He said, barely raising his voice. The noise stopped and the two disheveled Archangels walked from the library calmly, like nothing happened. They flanked Sam like the previous night and Sam put three pancakes and a couple strips of bacon plates for each of them before going back to his breakfast.

Dean was staring at Sam, “Your scary sometimes you know that?” Sam smirked and Dean shook his head, “So did you all powerful Archangels come up with a plan last night?”

“We did.” Lucifer said easily, leaning into Sam, “We’re going to essentially do what we did the first time. However were going to need a few things to accomplish that.”

“Of course we are.” Dean groused, he leaned back in his chair, “So what did you do the first time?”

“The four Archangels backed the Darkness into a portal that led to the void, the mark sealed it away, and Death made sure that the mark continued and guarded the void.” Michael said like it was simple.

Dean watched him for a couple seconds, trying to see if he was going to add anything before huffing, “In case you haven’t noticed we’re an Archangel short for that plan to even start to work. Also, I killed Death! He can’t guard shit! And I sure as hell am not taking the mark back!”

Lucifer rolled his eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic. We’ll just have to resurrect one of my brothers to make up the fourth Archangel.”

Castiel started choking on his pancake, Dean thumped him on the back as the three Archangels watched him. When Castiel righted himself he looked to Michael, “I thought only father could resurrect Archangels.”

“As far as we know.” Michael said, “But you mentioned you found Metatron. Father might have had him write something on the tablet that says otherwise. I’ve never actually read the tablets myself so there might be.”

“And what?” Dean interrupted, “Are we going to resurrect Death too?”

Lucifer snorted, “Of course not. We’ll need a new Death.”

Dean threw up his hands, “A new Death! How the hell are we gonna do that?”

Michael frowned, “Calm down Dean. You killed Death but people are still dying, the reapers are still ferrying souls. So Death must exist in some capacity. I believe Death would have at least left clues if not explicit instructions on what to do if he died.”

Dean sighed, “I guess that makes since. What about the Mark then? I’m not taking it back.”

Lucifer shook his head, “No, we’ll probably have an angel take it so they will be able to handle the power. We’ll have to make a new design as well.”

Dean considered that before nodding, “So we’re doing this?” nods went around the table, Dean sighed, “Resurrecting something that’s never been resurrected before without divine intervention, making a new Death, and drawing pretty pictures that will seal the age old Darkness away again.” He shook his head, “What a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dean's chat with Michael will be addressed in part 3 of the series which will be out by Friday.
> 
> The court scene is more of a kings court rather than a court of law.
> 
> The 'princeps' title is Latin for 'chief.' 'Principes' is the plural. Michael's addition of 'Altus' just means 'high, noble, or profound' On Wikipedia the title Archangel is said to mean 'chief angel', I then used Google translate to find chief(s) and 'altus' in another language. Remember these are from GOOGLE TRANSLATE and WIKIPEDIA!!!! They are in no way expert sources! I just wanted something a little more in depth than saying Archangel every time to show respect.
> 
> The angels names aren't cannon. They were also pulled from a website. I didn't check them but the suffix 'iel' means 'of God' so I felt safe using them as names. 
> 
> Yes, if you noticed I did use the royal 'we' in the court scene.
> 
> I'm thinking about bringing Miniel back to fangirl over Sam and Lucifer. Thoughts?


	8. Research and Feelings!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings, a bit of light torture, with a nice dessert of more feelings.
> 
> Also Miniel gets a nickname and a deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!! Bit of torture to that douche Metatron. If that triggers you, skip the warning section!!!

Breakfast finished and halos returned to the case, the group headed back to the library; which had been returned to its former state. They all sat around the middle, Sam immediately pulled his laptop from thin air and began working on it.

“So what first?” Dean asked, “Old angel or new Death?”

Michael rolled his eyes, “We will find Metatron first; he never liked us so I assume he will take longer to get information from.”

“Actually he should be the easiest.” Castiel said, the two older Archangels looked to him, “He is human.”

“Really?” Lucifer snorted, “That must knock him down a peg or two. What happened?”

“Cas took his grace.” Dean said with a grin, throwing an arm over Castiel’s shoulders.

Michael laughed and Lucifer smirked, “Good job Castiel.” Michael said, Castiel visibly brightened at the praise. “You hid his grace somewhere safe right?”

“It’s in the bunkers vault.” Castiel said with a nod, “Along with the Demon Tablet and the remains of the Angel tablet.”

“Remains?” Lucifer questioned, “I thought you had a prophet stashed somewhere.”

Sam tensed but didn’t stop typing, “Metatron killed him before I knew what was happening.” He muttered. Lucifer softened and rubbed Sam’s back gently.

“Metatron had sigils hiding him and was drawing power from the tablet at the time.” Castiel said, “You couldn’t have known Sam.” Sam sent Castiel a grateful look before returning to his computer.

“So do you know how to find him?” Michael asked, “He’s smart enough to keep sigils on him.”

“I’m tracking him from the last place Cas saw him.” Sam said typing furiously, “He’ll have needed medical attention after Cas had him last.” He stopped and grinned down at the computer, “Bell View Hospital, Saint Andrews Ward, Room 316, under his vessels name.”

“Good job Sammy!” Dean said with a grin, rubbing his hands together, “Nothing like good old fashioned hacking!”

Sam rolled his eyes as he sat back, “No says hack anymore Dean.”

“I do.” Dean said with a grin as the two older Archangels looked over the information on the screen. “So who are we going to resurrect?”

Michael eyed Dean, “Whoever is easiest to. Why?”

Sam gave a soft snort, “You two weren't the only Archangels we had bad experiences with.”

“Exactly.” Dean said, “I just want to be prepared for whoever out next house guest is.”

Michael frowned, “Whoever is here will be respectful. I’ll make sure of it.”

Dean rolled his eyes, “I just don’t want to be put back in TV Land or chased into an alternate universe for that matter.” He said, picking at the hem of his flannel. “I don’t think it will help anything if their just sticks in the mud obeying orders.”

Lucifer looked to Sam, “TV Land?”

“Gabriel put us in an illusion of TV shows, trying to get us to play our part and just say yes.” Sam said softly.

Michael was frowning and Lucifer said, “He should not have interfered.” 

“Stop you two.” Sam said, “Gabriel was tired of all the fighting. He wanted it to stop or to just get it over with. He took drastic measures. He wasn’t choosing a side.” Lucifer’s eyes went to Michael.

“He was always trying to get us to stop before your fall.” Michael murmured, “We were too angry and prideful to listen or back down.” He dropped sideways in his chair so his head rested on Sam’s thigh, “We failed him.” Lucifer made a small noise of distress and dropped to Sam’s other thigh. 

Sam rubbed between Michael’s shoulder blades soothingly and ran his other hand through Lucifer’s short blond hair, “We all make mistakes. If we end up resurrecting him you need to make more of an effort to listen to him. I’ll be here to remind you. I have plenty of experience with bullheaded older brothers.”

“Hey!” Dean groused, Sam just fixed him with a bitch face. Dean sighed, “Fine, um, what about Raphael?”

Lucifer sighed, “Raphael would want to start the Apocalypse as soon as the Darkness was taken care of.”

Michael reached across Sam and intertwined his fingers with Lucifer’s, “I won’t let that happen.” Sam hummed in agreement, tugging at Lucifer’s hair gently.

“So if there’s a choice we will go with Gabriel.” Dean said lightly, trying to throw of the growing gloom.

The two older Archangels didn’t respond, just kept their hands clasped and their heads on Sam’s lap with Sam’s hands on them comfortingly. Sam looked from Dean to Castiel, “Cas can you go get Metatron? He should be stable enough to move.” Castiel bowed his head and disappeared, “Dean, I don’t know who but someone is trying to get past the wards. Can you go check?”

Dean raised an eyebrow, “How do you know? If their angels why don’t they come in? The others did before.”

“Michael taught me to make impenetrable wards that I can control.” Sam said, “I allow people to leave or enter the bunkers. You and Cas have complete access, as do Michael and Lucifer. However everyone else has to be invited and then I set up temporary access. Like with Crowley and Rowena. They had access because we were working with them, however if they had stayed longer than an hour then they got thrown outside the wards unless I renewed it. The heads were allowed in because someone with complete access invited them, but they would have been thrown out at the hour mark without a renewal as well.”

Dean’s eyes widened, “That’s cool.” Michael gave a soft snort from his spot laying on Sam, “It is!” Dean insisted, “Could you do that with Baby? Could I control the wards?” he asked excitedly.

Sam frowned, “The Impala? You don’t let anyone in it as it is.”

Dean grinned, “Only family. But monsters have gotten in before. I could throw them out!”

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes, “I’ll do it if you go check the bunker’s wards.”

“Deal!” Dean exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing the angel blade and shot gun that had been on the big map table as he ran up the stairs.

“Are you really going to ward his car?” Lucifer asked.

“Eventually. I never said when.” Sam said, Michael chuckled and Lucifer grinned. Sam smiled, “Are you guys okay now?” he got small half nods, “Which are you more worried about? Gabriel coming back or Raphael?”

Shifting their positions so their eyes could meet Lucifer and Michael said “Gabriel.” In unison.

“The apocalypse is impossible now.” Michael said, “No matter what Raphael would want.”

“But we treated Gabriel horribly right before my fall.” Lucifer said.

“And afterward he ran away.” Michael said, “What if he doesn’t want anything to do with us?”

Sam smiled softly down at them, “It may not be immediate but I’m positive he will forgive you for the treatment. He wanted you to stop fighting and you have. You just need to show him you’ll listen to him and you’re sorry.”

“We are sorry.” Michael said, “But it took millennia for us to stop fighting and most of that was because of you Sam.”

Sam shook his head, “I mediated. However if you hadn’t wanted to stop fighting each other you wouldn’t have even begun to work out your problems. Certainly not because of me.” Lucifer and Michael’s eyes met again and Michael gave his brother a small smile. “As for the not wanting anything to do with you.” Sam started, “He may want more space because that’s what he’s used to now, but he won’t want to be completely cut off. We can’t force him but we will let him know he’s welcome and I’ll give him unlimited access with the wards.”

The two on his lap both look up at Sam, “You would let him in the flock?” Michael whispered reverently.

Sam frowned, “He was here before me. I would never take his spot from him.”

Michael shook his head, “All of our flock bonds were dissolved with the fall and his running away. I and Lucifer had to renew ours. He would need to have bonds forged with us all to be taken back.” He gazed at Sam seriously, “Our roles may be protection and leadership but you have the most say in the addition of a flock member. After what he did to you could you still be in a flock with him?”

Sam thought for a second before nodding, “If he wants to be part of our flock then he is welcome. He went about things wrong but I understand his reasons and I would never keep you two from having a relationship from your brother.” Both of the older Archangels sat up and engulfed Sam in a hug; Sam returned it as much as he was able from his awkward position, happy that they were happier now. “Besides he might be an asshole sometimes but so are you two.” He said playfully.

“Hey!” they both protested, Sam chuckled.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------Samifer---------------------------------------------------------  
Dean threw the bunker door open, still bouncing from the thought of having absolute power over who was in his car. ‘No more dogs in my car.’ He thought gleefully, ‘No more unwanted monsters.’ He looked around carefully, ‘No more annoying brother when I want alone time with….’

“Hark a Winchester!” came a light female voice. Dean spun, immediately pointing the shotgun and spinning the angel blade into a defensive hold. The pink haired woman held up her hands, “Whoa! I come in peace I promise.”

Dean frowned and studied her, “Aren’t you one of the angels from the meeting?”

She grinned and nodded before sticking her hand out, “I’m Miniel, current Head Cherub. Nice to meetcha!”

Dean frowned but lowered his gun and stuck the blade through his belt loop to shake her hand, “I’m Dean Winchester.”

“Oh I know.” She said excitedly before blushing and putting a hand over her mouth.

Dean chuckled, “Are all Cherubs this….human? You don’t seem like the regular uptight angel.”

Miniel gave a nervous laugh, “Yes, well Cherubs spend more time near humans so we pick up their mannerisms more.” 

Dean nodded with a grin, “Alright then Mini why were you trying to get into the bunker?”

“Mini?” the tiny angel asked.

Dean snorted, “Your short and it just takes off the last two letters of your name. It’s a nickname. Like I call Castiel Cas.” Mini’s eyes brightened and she nodded, “Now why were you trying to get into the bunker?” Dean repeated.

“Oh! I wanted to see Princeps Samuel and Princeps Lucifer.” Mini said.

“Why exactly?” Dean asked.

Mini straightened a bit, “Well the mating of an Archangel is a very big deal. As cherubs who help with pairings we should have felt something. I was going to ask them why we didn’t.”

Dean crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m pretty sure it was the cage. They said they couldn’t feel anything going on outside while they were in there, I assume it works both ways.”

“Maybe I could just ask them.” Miniel hedged.

Dean snorted, “Maybe you could just tell me why you’re really here.”

Mini held her ground for several silence filled minutes of Dean’s gaze simply watching her before she sighed and slumped, “Fine. We cherubim are fascinated by love, it’s our job to be. We just wanted to know more about the newest happy couple.”

“See was that so hard?” Dean asked with a soft smile, “So you’re a fangirl.” Miniel blushed, “We’ve had a few run-ins with them.”

“Can I come in and see them?” Miniel asked, making her eyes wide and teary, “I just want to ask a few questions.”

Dean shook his head, “I can’t let you in right now.” She deflated and Dean rolled his eyes, “I’ll ask them if you can come to breakfast some time.” She perked up a bit, “But no promises.” Mini nodded in understanding, “Now do you have a phone?”

“I do.” Miniel said, taking out an iPhone 5s. 

Dean pulled out his own and handed it to her before he took hers, “Put your number in and I’ll try to snap some sappy pictures to send you.”

“Really?” Mini squealed.

Dean rolled his eyes as he put his information into the cherub’s phone, “Really. I know fangirls can come up with some crazy stuff if they don’t have the truth.”

Miniel jumped at Dean and smothered him in a hug, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she cheered.

“Dean?” came Castiel’s voice, Dean and Miniel looked toward the bunker door to see Castiel standing, holding a woozy looking Metatron by the elbow. Castiel’s eyes locked on Miniel and narrowed, “Head Miniel.” He said stiffly.

Dean smiled, “Hey Cas, I see you got the douche bag from urgent care.”

Castiel let his gaze move to Dean, “Yes. I believe the Archangels will want to interrogate him now.” His eyes went back to Miniel, “Did you need something?”

Miniel stepped back from Dean with a smile, “No Castiel. I was simply exchanging numbers with Dean in case he ever needs the services of the cherubim.” She gave Dean his phone and took hers back, “See you around.” She said with a wave before she vanished.

“Dean if you wish to begin bedding angels as you do the women from the bar I would suggest that you not do so with cherubs.” Castiel said seriously, “They tend to want a longer relationship.”

Dean rolled his eyes, “That wasn’t what I was doing Cas. It seems Mini wanted to see Sam and Lucifer’s relationship. She’s a fangirl. I told her I would take some sappy picture to send her. That way we could focus on the Darkness for now.”

Castiel looked considering before he nodded, “Very well Dean.” He turned and dragged Metatron behind him as he entered the bunker, Dean followed. 

When they made it to the library the three Archangels were lounging on a leather couch that one of them must have made. It was situated in front of the telescope like the chairs had been during the impromptu court, the table directly in front of them was completely cleared and covered in plastic as well as having plastic under it.

“Please put Metatron on the table Cas.” Sam said from his place in the middle, once again, of an Archangel sandwich. Lucifer was in the left corner of the couch with one arm slung behind Sam who was pressed close to him and Michael was sitting with his back against the opposite arm with his legs thrown over Sam and his feet in Lucifer’s lap.

Dean hopped up on the table in the middle and watched as Castiel tossed Metatron on the prepared table, “Can you three get any weirder?” he commented.

“Give us time.” Sam snarked back.

Michael laughed, “We sat like this sometimes in the Cage to talk.”

“Who was at the wards?” Lucifer asked.

“Miniel.” Dean said simply, “She wanted to see the happy couple.”

Michael tensed and frowned, “See them what?”

Dean rolled his eyes, “She’s harmless. She just wanted to ask them why the cherubs didn’t feel such an important bond and wanted to ask about their relationship.”

“He agreed to take pictures for her.” Castiel said sharply.

Sam frowned, “Dean?”

Dean rolled his eyes, “She’s a fangirl Sammy.” Sam cringed, “You’ve seen what they like to do with speculation. I figured a few pictures for them to look at will dull the wild stories that would surface otherwise. I also told her I would ask if she could come ask questions over breakfast some time, but I didn’t promise anything.”

Sam nodded, “If it’s alright with Luce you can.”

Michael shook his head, “You’re going to be taking pictures of them just to show these angels?”

Lucifer waved him off, “Michael you know what Cherubs are like. Remember that time they thought you needed a mate?” Michael blushed, “Wrote ‘need someone strong enough to take care of me’ on the memo and one of the angels that showed up in answer was strong enough to hold your whole true form up off the ground for like twenty minutes straight?”

Castile looked scandalized and Dean was laughing hard, Michael blushed even darker, “Fine. Take pictures.” He grumped, “But only tasteful ones. I’ll consider the breakfast thing.”

Dean finally stopped laughing enough to grab his phone and walk toward them, “Dude these cherubs are hilarious.” Cas huffed from where he was standing by Metatron.

Sam rolled his eyes, “Just take the picture jerk.”

Dean waggled his fingers, “I promised sappy, bitch.” He held up his phone, “Kiss him Lucifer.” Lucifer grinned and grabbed Sam; he kissed him passionately, using his forked tongue to make Sam melt. Dean was snapping pictures every couple seconds, finally Lucifer pulled back. Sam gazed at him with half lidded eyes, adoration clear on his face; Lucifer met his gaze, his eyes shining blue with grace and smiling happily. Dean snapped a picture of that before chuckling, “Perfect. Thanks.” Sam and Lucifer began making out.

Michael stood and took Dean’s phone, ignoring the hunter’s protest. “I want that last one.” He said with a smile, he handed the phone back to Dean.

Dean took it and frowned, “You deleted some.”

Michael rolled his eyes, “The cherubs don’t need 15 kissing pictures. I picked out the best you can send and then sent that last one to my phone.”

“You have a phone?” Dean asked, “Since when. You’ve only been topside one night.”

“Sam gave it to me.” Michael said, proudly pulling an iPhone out to show Dean. It already had the message from Dean’s phone on it.

A loud groan went through the library, stopping Dean and Michael’s conversation and Lucifer and Sam making out. Castiel shifted his stance by Metatron, “The morphine is wearing off. What would you like to do with him after? I can go prepare it.”

Michael and Lucifer both looked to Sam, “We might need information from him again.” Michael said.

Sam looked to Castiel, “How was he last time?”

“Tried to talk me into killing him.” Castiel said, “He’s squatting in an abandon building and selling video of crimes to make money. Heaven is still after him to try and return him to his cell.”

Sam looked between Lucifer and Michael, “We could keep him here if you can ward a room so he can’t get out or put a tracker on him and let him go. And if he has a death wish he’s not going to be careful so we’d have to check in on him. He’s human he will die eventually.”

“We can exclude a single room from your wards Sam.” Michael said, “That way he’d have to be invited into the main part of the bunker. Also put his body in stasis so he won’t die on us. It would be much easier to look after him here.”

Sam nodded, “If you two think it’s safe.” He allowed, knowing that they would take that into consideration first.

“He’ll stay here.” Lucifer said finally, he looked to Castiel, “Can you go gather whatever he has and bring it to whichever room is most isolated here in the bunker?” Castiel bowed and disappeared.

Dean had returned to his seat on the other table and was watching Metatron slowly come from the deep medicated trance. “I’ve never seen the asshole this quiet. He has quite the thing for monologuing.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!TRIGGER WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael nodded, “He’s liked doing that for a long time.” He walked over and laid a hand on Metatron’s head, instantly the man started writhing and whining, “You can feel it now can’t you? All you injuries? No more morphine dulling it.” He let his hands rest on Metatron’s shoulders.

Metatron nodded and looked up through clouded eyes, “Michael.” He huffed, “Please. The pain.”

Michael leaned over Metatron, putting weight on the man’s left shoulder where he had a badly torn rotator cuff, “I’m sorry Metatron.” Michael said, “But I won’t fix anything until you answer some questions for me.” Metatron let out a low whine, tugging uselessly at his shoulder. “Are you going to answer?”

“Just kill me.” He muttered.

Michael gave a low chuckle, “No such luck. See we need to deal with the Darkness and we need your knowledge. So until you answer our questions you will remain like this. I may even allow Lucifer to play a bit.” Metatron whimpered and jerked under Michael’s weight. Michael looked to Dean with a question in his eyes and he shrugged, “Or maybe I’ll let Dean at you. Did you know he studied under Alastair?” Metatron jerked again, which only sent another jolt of pain through him. “Are you sure you don’t want to answer us? You don’t look so good.”

“Humans can only take so much before they pass out or pass on.” Metatron wheezed.

Dean chuckled, “We explored that in the pit. I’m sure I’m rusty but I did keep one awake for four days while I played before they finally let go. Though I’m sure Michael or Lucifer could bring you back if I slipped.”

“Of course.” Lucifer said with a grin.

Metatron’s eyes were darting wildly, looking for the other voices. Michael waited until he caught Metatron’s gaze again, “You want to answer some questions? I will heal you if you do.” Metatron’s lips settled in a grim line, “That rotator cuff will need surgery, both arms broken, a bunch of lacerations, that crack in your C7 will most likely cause you to void yourself while they play if not sooner, and I see that Castiel did some damage to your lungs. You really want to stay like this?” he shrugged, “It’s a life style choice I guess.” Metatron turned his head away with a determined look. Michael shrugged again, “Lucifer.”

Lucifer untangled himself from Sam and stood, “With pleasure.” He said, cracking his vessels joints, making Metatron wince. He paced slowly toward the table, “I’m looking forward to this. Why you thought Father having you take down his word made you better than us I will never know. After all would he really have his Archangels do secretarial work?” Metatron was shaking and hyperventilating by the time Lucifer reached him. Lucifer grinned at Michael as he leaned over and placed on finger against a cut that ran down Metatron’s neck, “Are you sure you don’t want to answer a few question?” he hissed in Metatron’s ear.

Metatron let out a high pitched squeak, “Alright! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you!”

Lucifer straightened, “Great!” he said brightly, he leaned against the table, “Just tell us and we will heal you, deal?” Metatron whimpered slightly, nodding. “Awesome. Did Father tell you a way to resurrect an Archangel?” Metatron just lay there and took in shuddery breaths, Lucifer put his finger on the arm cast closest to him, “A bit of pressure on this and I can see exactly how many pieces Castiel broke your arm into.”

“Yes.” Metatron stuttered out, “There’s a way.”

Lucifer smiled, “Would you like to enlighten us?” he asked, tapping his fingers against the cast.

“Summoning.” Metatron blurted, “Summoning on ground named after them with something that holds their signature. Salt to ground them, holy water to fill them, and holy fire to spark them. At dawn.”

Lucifer nodded, “Anything we need to watch for?” wiggling a finger into the cast.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Trigger Warning Over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Metatron jerked, “Can’t be dead more than one hundred years. Will need substance for three days before grace will settle in.” he squeaked, “Don’t put the fire in a circle, leave the holy water in an open container, salt in the center.”

Lucifer looked to Michael who tilted his head at him and Lucifer nodded again, “Does Father a preference in who is brought back?”

Metatron looked directly at Lucifer for the first time, “Their halo will go dark if he truly thinks that they have lost their path and are unredeemable. A new Archangel will be created.” He said in a choked off, hushed voice.

“Thank you for your help.” Michael said, he touched Metatron on his head, instantly he was healed, and his casts and bandages were gone. Metatron started to sit up but Lucifer tapped him on the forehead again, he slumped back in sleep. Castiel appeared a second later and stood by Dean. 

“I guess that explains why Sam is an Archangel then.” Michael said, “At some point during the civil war in heaven Raphael must have done something that made him unredeemable. His halo indent had turned gray.”

Lucifer walked slowly over to Sam and dropped to his knees in front of him, Sam took his hands and kissed them, “Father never believed I was unredeemable.” Lucifer whispered in shock, “Even after all I did. All I said.”

Sam looked at him with love filled eyes, “Of course you weren’t unredeemable.” He pulled Lucifer closer and hugged him tight. Michael walked over and kneeled behind Lucifer, looking to Sam for permission, Sam gave it with a blink and a smile. Michael wrapped his arms around his brother from behind.

Watching the scene from the table Dean smiled and tugged on Castiel’s coat. When Castiel looked to him, he motioned to Metatron. Castiel nodded and they silently took the newly healed human from the room. Both casting one last glance at the happy Archangel’s embracing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the fan girl abuse there before the Metatron questioning. I'm trying to be true to their reaction in the show but its a bit off. Know I mean no offence to everyone and I'm making fun of myself as well. After this is what I did with speculation. lol Also no offence to secretaries. Just trying to think up taunts for Metatron. 
> 
> Addition of Michael to Sam and Lucifer's relationship as a platonic member is brought to you by scifigeek14! Who has given me wonderful ideas that are already running rampant in my head! Unless paired with Adam, I usually see Michael as more of an asexual character. This gives him the love that he needs without fully interrupting the main ship. 
> 
> Thanks for the inspiration scifigeek14!! 
> 
> Gabriel will be resurrected next chapter! Be ready to feel!
> 
> Also check out the next part of the Archangel Sam series! Miniel and the cherubim fangirling!


	9. Resurrecting Mischief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's Gabriel!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SSSSOOOOOO sorry this took so long to get up. One of my friends introduced me to a couple new ships that I never even considered before and the the ideas flew! I didn't even realize I had been neglecting this until I glanced at my stats! Then of course I was doing midterms and it all went to shit. 
> 
> Sorry again!
> 
> Enjoy!

Dean and Castiel carried Metatron’s limp form into the depths of the bunker until they came to a small solitary room at the end of a long empty hallway. Castiel opened the door and they drew Metatron inside to drop him on the twin bed. Dean rubbed his hands together and looked around, “I don’t remember this room.” It was small and had a very jail like feel to it with the one bed pressed against the wall, a toilet and sink along another, and a small mirror sitting on a basic metal table. “What was it for?”

 

“Apparently the Men of Letters used it to hold traitors until they could be reviewed by the council.” Castiel said.

 

“Traitors.” Dean mused with a snort, “You know, for bookworms these people were well equipped for prisoners and interrogation.” Castiel nodded solemnly. Dean waved at Metatron, “It okay to leave him here?”

 

“Yes Dean.” Castiel said flatly, “He will not wake until Michael allows him to.”

 

“Good.” Dean said stepping from the room with Castiel close behind, “So what do you want to do while we wait?”

 

“Wait?” Cas questioned.

 

“Well yeah.” Dean said, “I assume those three are going to need some time alone after that. Figure I’ll give them until after lunch and then call them so we can continue on. I’m not in a hurry. Amara hasn’t been very active for whatever reason, mainly she’s just scaring people right now.”

 

Castiel studied Dean as he walked, “That’s very mature of you Dean, giving them time to settle.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes, “I can be mature when I need to be,” Castiel’s lips quirked up, “Oh shaddup. No all of us can be older than time, stoic angels.”

 

“I guess not.” Castiel said with a small smile.

* * *

 

Still sitting on the couch holding Lucifer, Sam glanced to Michael who had a huge smile of his face. Sam had never seen him happier, even in the Cage when Lucifer had finally outright forgiven him. His grace was practically smothering Lucifer’s in a sort of ‘angel hug’.

 

 _I can’t believe it._ He whispered through their mental connection.

 

 _I can._ Michael said happily, squeezing his brother tighter.

 

 _I defiantly can._ Sam said caressing Lucifer’s grace lovingly with his own and sending him his own confidence, happiness, and love.

 

Lucifer hummed and murmured aloud, “Can we go to the nest?”

 

Sam blinked, he’d never heard his mate sound so small or vulnerable before. He understood though, Lucifer had spent all of his time since his fall thinking that it was his Father’s will that he be killed by his brother. His assumption was that his father had given up on him completely. He needed time to process the sudden flip in perception after so long. So making sure he had a good grip of both members of his flock Sam shifted them into his room in an instant.

 

His room, though not what the older Archangels had described as a traditional nest, was definitely theirs. It already held Sam’s scent and after the previous night’s grooming session, stray feathers were scattered all throughout.

 

Lucifer refused to let go of Sam so, with Michael’s help, he shifted his mate up onto the bed with him where he lay on his side to hold him. Michael held Lucifer from behind, covering both of the younger with his wings.

 

Sam settled in, feeling safe under Michael’s wings and knowing he was only there for support and comfort. Lucifer needed Michael right now and Sam could already feel them pushing feelings, memories, and ideas back and forth to each other. It was fascinating to watch. They communicated with each other almost instantaneously and their graces fluxed together. Their vessels would tense and relax in sync with their graces and they would allow Sam’s grace to soothe them if he noticed things were getting heated.

 

Sam had honestly lost track of time, caught up in the flow of grace and the peace that came with being with his flock but eventually all he could feel from the other two was happiness and contentment. Lucifer’s grip on him loosened slightly and he let out a deep sighing breath. Sam slid his free arm over Lucifer and gripped Michael’s shirt, “Better?” he murmured.

 

Lucifer nodded into Sam’s chest, “Much.” Michael replied softly, he met Sam’s gaze over Lucifer’s head, “Thank you.”

 

“Of course.” Sam said with a smile.

 

They lay there peacefully in each other’s arms with Michael’s feathers covering them almost completely. After a while Lucifer let out a small huff, “Are you this hot when you’re in the middle Sam?”

 

Michael gave a small snort as he withdrew his wings and Sam laughed, “No Luce, I’m usually pretty comfortable.”

 

“Obviously because you have me behind you and not Mr. Bonfire back here.” Lucifer grumbled.

 

Michael shot into a sitting position and smacked Lucifer playfully, “Don’t be an ass Lucifer.”

 

Lucifer looked up at Sam with a grin and whined, “But it’s my best feature.”

 

“Oh I’m sure.” Michael shot back.

 

Sam laughed at their antics and was about to comment on the ass being discussed when he felt a pull at his mind. An image of Dean filled his vision, _“Dear Princess Sam.”_ Came Dean’s voice, _“You three have been in there for five hours. Its times to come get down to business before the Darkness decides to really get things started. I’ve also made that fruit salad you like, so you better get out here before it get warm and gross.”_

 

When the image cleared, Sam’s gaze was filled with the worried faces of Lucifer and Michael; he blinked several time, “Why didn’t you tell me that prayers were so disconcerting?”

 

Lucifer gave a short laugh, “Sorry, we’re so used to it we didn’t even think about it.”

 

Michael nodded and smiled, “It will get better once you’ve heard enough.” He sat back on the bed, “I assume that was Dean. What did he want?”

 

“Apparently we’ve been in here for five hours and he wants to get started on things before the Darkness starts moving.” Sam said, “He’s bribing me with fruit salad.”

 

Lucifer snorted but leaned in to give Sam a quick kiss, “Let’s go then.” They all three flew to the library when they felt Cas and Dean. The two sat on one side of the table like before, Dean was tapping at the computer as he sipped at a beer. Dean has set a bowl of fruit salad in front of the middle chair on the other side of the table.

 

Sam sat down, “Thanks Dean.”

 

“You’re welcome.” Dean said, not looking up from his screen.

 

Michael and Lucifer flanked Sam and watched with interest as Sam sprinkled a bit of sugar over the pineapple, cranberry, blackberry, and blueberry mixture. Feeling their curiosity, Sam summoned another fork which he handed to Michael before taking a bite and looking to Lucifer with a challenge in his eyes. Lucifer pulled Sam forward and devoured him, stealing half of Sam’s fruit through the heated kiss.

 

“Jesus you two.” came Dean’s exasperated voice along with the click of the computer being shut, “I put the fruit out for you to eat, not to start another make out session.”

 

Lucifer pulled back and smirked at Dean, “Can’t help it. Everything tastes better coming from your brother.” Michael snorted as Dean gagged, Sam just continued eating his fruit with an innocent expression on his face.

 

Dean rolled his eyes, “Alright, so what now?”

 

“We need to find something that has a lot of Gabriel’s power signature.” Michael said, snagging a blueberry from Sam’s bowl. “The rest it easy.”

 

Sam tilted his head, “How much of his signature Michael? Because we still have Gabriel’s blade form Elysian Fields.”

 

Michael shook his head, “It would take more than that. When angel blades are created we basically cut off a piece of our grace and form them. It holds only a little of our signature after forming, usually so other angels could tell our rank if they didn’t recognize us. Since he is dead there isn’t any remaining signature.” He leaned back in his chair, “Whatever we use will have to have a lot of his power signature. Resurrections for angels are difficult without a proper focusing element, I can only assume the resurrections for one of us Archangels are even more difficult without one.”

 

“So what then?” Dean asked, “Is that horn of his real? Do you know where it is?”

 

Lucifer winced, “It’s real and its up in our old home, but Gabriel hated it because of what it represented. He threw it in our storage room the day Father said he would play it to signal the apocalypse. He didn’t spend enough time with it for it to absorb enough of his signature for us to use it.”

 

“What of his halo?” Castiel asked softly.

 

“That would work.” Michael said, “But like I said before, he took it with him when he left.”

 

Sam looked to Michael, “Could you two sense his safe houses? I assume that would be where he would keep things that held so much of his power.”

 

“Shouldn’t be too much of a problem without him here physically enforcing the protections.” Michael said.

 

Sam nodded, “Then you can find them and look through them to find either his halo or something with enough power to back the summons.”

 

Michael sighed, “I guess we will have to. It’s not the most efficient but it’s needed.”

 

Sam smiled, “Great.” He looked to Dean, “Can you and Cas find land dedicated to Gabriel and ward it up in preparation? Make sure it’s easily defendable, these two won’t be able to focus if there are possibilities of enemies sneaking in and I assume there will be at least a few.”

 

Dean raised an eyebrow, “Of course we can but what are you going to be doing?”

 

Lucifer growled and slid an arm around Sam, “He will be with us.”

 

Michael nodded, “Their bond is healing nicely but the drastic distance we may be traveling could tear it and cause them more pain. Sam will have to be with us.”

 

“Fine.” Dean sighed, “But keep us updated.”

 

Sam smiled, “Of course Dean.”

* * *

 

After the elder Archangels wrote down several stronger and older sigils they wanted Dean and Castiel to add to their usual arsenal when they found the space, the group broke apart to begin their tasks. Dean immediately took to looking up places dedicated to Gabriel and sent Castiel out to scout the places in person.

 

The three Archangels flew up into the upper atmosphere to sense Gabriel’s hideouts, Sam kept watch as the elder Archs scanned the globe. “Six.” Michael finally announced, his voice sounding strange in the silence of the Mesosphere. “I’ve found six hideouts.”

 

Lucifer checked his own count and nodded in agreement, “That’s not too bad. I expected more.”

 

Sam rolled his eyes, “Less for us to search I guess.” He looked to Michael, “Which first?”

 

Michael brightened, “Antarctica!” he dove toward the frozen continent and Sam looked to Lucifer who just shrugged.

 

“He likes penguins.” Lucifer said with a smile, Sam grinned and they both dove after Michael.

 

They landed in the center of a large ice field filled with emperor penguins, Michael picked one up immediately and began cooing at the bird. He led the way forward and Sam soon saw ward lines carved into the ice that shimmered gold. The second they stepped across the lines Sam stopped and burst out laughing at the structure that had come into view.

 

Michael and Lucifer looked at him curiously and he pointed toward the ice structure and gasped out, “He made himself a Fortress of Solitude!”

 

Lucifer rolled his eyes and Michael just hugged his penguin tighter, “Let’s go Sam.”

 

Sam quickly calmed down and followed the other two into the full scale model of Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. When they reached the interior Lucifer groaned, “He would make a full nest for himself.”

 

The entire space was packed with knickknacks, feathers, blankets, pillows, and other things piled mysteriously under sheets. Michael huffed, “This is going to take longer than I thought.”

 

Sam sighed, “I’ll text Dean and let him know. We should get started.” The two elder Archangels began to go through the outer rooms while Sam sent off a text to Dean and began to search through the blanket piles of the main room.

* * *

 

It took them the rest of the day and well into the night to finish searching thoroughly through the Fortress of Solitude. In the meantime Dean and Cas had found a nearly abandon monastery in the Rocky Mountains that was dedicated to Gabriel. It was carved into a mountain and had only one road going in and out of it.

 

On the second day the three Archangels managed to search through two smaller hideouts, one in Hawaii and another in Greenland. They found a few things that held Gabriel’s signature but nothing that was strong enough to bring him back from the dead.

 

Dean and Castiel planned to set up the monastery but news came through the hunter network about an entire town having lost their minds. They had gone to investigate and found that half the town was soulless and a fourth had been killed by soulless bodies running around. They had to call in the three Archangels to help. Michael and Lucifer took out all the soulless and Sam, Dean, and Castiel got the remaining living away from the town.

 

The sudden activity from the Darkness pushed the group faster. So on the third day Michael split from Lucifer and Sam so they could go through two of the larger hideouts in one day. Dean and Cas set up the monastery for the ritual, painstakingly drawing sigils and purifying the rooms so there was no chance that things would contaminate the procedure.

 

On the fourth day the Archangels searched through the final and largest of the hideouts. It was carved into the rock behind Niagara Falls. They searched through the entire place twice over, each time coming up with nothing substantial enough to support the resurrection and no clues as to the whereabouts of his halo.

 

That evening the conversation around the table was subdued, Lucifer was leaning into Sam’s side and Michael had taken to pacing behind them. Dean was sitting with his feet propped up on the table, “So there wasn’t anything we could use?”

 

Michael shook his head, “Nothing strong enough to support it.” He muttered, “No clues. Nothing.”

 

“Could he have hid it by itself?” Castiel asked from his usual place next to Dean, “Somewhere small enough that it was unnoticeable?”

 

Lucifer shook his head with a frown, “No, we would still be able to feel it. That’s just the nature of our halos.”

 

“Could we use several of the items with his signature at the same time?” Sam asked, “There were plenty.”

 

Michael looked to be considering this but then shook his head, “No, there is the possibility he could come back with fractured or completely broken grace if we did that.”

 

“Maybe he made into something else.” Dean mused with a smirk, Michael and Lucifer looked at him and he frowned, “What? Apparently he’s been playing trickster since a little after he left home. I’m sure he could change its appearance. He certainly made that warehouse look like Dr. Sexy’s hospital.”

 

Lucifer looked to Michael, “If he did that he might be able to mask the feel of it. We wouldn’t be able to feel it unless we touched it.”

 

Michael groaned and dropped into the chair on the opposite side of Sam, “Then we’ll never find it. We’re fast but we can’t go hold every single thing on the planet within the time we need.”

 

Sam rolled his eyes, “I doubt he would give something as important as his halo to just anyone and I assume he would make it into something one of a kind so that he himself would never mistake it as anything else. Especially if he masked it.”

 

Dean froze at the description, “Sam.” Their eyes met and Dean frowned, “You don’t think….”

 

Sam’s eyes widened slightly, catching the direction of his brothers thoughts easily, “He wouldn’t!” then he blinked and grimaced, “He would wouldn’t he.”

 

Dean nodded, “Pagan Trickster. Yeah. He would.”

 

Lucifer sat up and looked between them, “You two want to enlighten us?” Sam disappeared and the two older Archangels looked to the older Winchester, “Dean?”

 

“Did Sam tell you how we came up with the idea to put you back in the Cage?” Dean asked.

 

Lucifer frowned, “He said Gabriel told him about the rings.”

 

Dean nodded, “He did. After you killed him.”

 

Michael cocked his head, “How?”

 

“He gave us a porno.” Dean said, Sam popped back into the room with a DVD case. “The first few minutes told us about the rings to open the cage and that to end it we needed to find a way to push you back in. The last bit is a porno featuring him.”

 

Lucifer smirked and Michael blushed, Sam just rolled his eyes at them and opened the case. He pulled the DVD out and handed it to Michael whose breath rushed out of him in a whoosh, “This is it.” He waved a hand over it and it shimmered, turning into a shining golden halo. Michael stared down at with a mixture of fondness and exasperation, “He recorded porn on his halo.”

 

“Well its creative I’ll give him that.” Lucifer laughed.

 

Dean snorted, “Creative is a word for it.” He dropped his feet to the ground, “So, we can do this in the morning then.”

 

Michael nodded, “Yes. Is everything ready?”

 

“Yes Michael.” Castiel said, “The ingredients are all at the monastery and we made sure the nuns who care for the place would stay away for the next several days. The sigils are up and I touched up a few this morning.”

 

“Good.”

 

Dean cleared his throat and everyone looked to him, “We never talked about a vessel. Will this give him one or do we need his old one?”

 

Michael opened his mouth to answer before closing it and frowning, “I’m not sure. We’ll have to wake up Metatron tonight and ask him.”

 

Dean stood and stretched, “You guys can have that I guess. I going to go to bed since I assume we will be going to the monastery at o’dark thirty in the morning. So, good night.”

 

Sam looked to Michael, “So you ready to go wake up the scribe?”

 

“No,” Michael whined, “Now that he’s healed he’ll probably talk a lot.”

 

Sam looked amused, “Don’t tell me your afraid of a secretary.” Lucifer chuckled.

 

Michael looked insulted, “I’m not afraid of him.” He spat, “Speaking to him affects my inner peace.”

 

“We could retrieve Gabriel’s vessel and have it as back up.” Castiel said, “That way we do not have to wake Metatron.”

 

Michael brightened, “Good idea Castiel! Do you know where it is?”

 

“Buried behind Elysian Fields.” Sam said, Lucifer let out a pained noise and Sam rubbed his arm, knowing he was thinking about how he just left him where he fell. “I went back and buried him. Now I’m glad I decided against a hunter’s funeral. Otherwise we wouldn’t have a vessel for him.”

 

Michael smiled at him gratefully, “Let’s go then.” The four angels flew from the bunker.

* * *

 

Six thirty the next morning found them all standing in the St. Gabriel’s Mountain Abbey surrounded by sigils drawn in blood. In the center of the room they had drawn a summoning circle and placed a little mound of salt in the center, to the left was a bowl of holy water and to the right was a small circle of holy fire. Along the wall lay Gabriel’s healed vessel on a small pallet with Sam standing close by. Castiel and Dean stood by the door with their weapons and Michael and Lucifer stood in front of the circle.

 

“It’s almost time.” Michael said, shifting from foot to foot, fiddling with Gabriel’s halo. Lucifer looked nervously from the circle to Gabriel’s vessel and back.

 

Sam gave them a small smile before looking to Dean and Cas, “Can you two guard from the other side of the door? It’s going to get bright and we won’t be able to hear anything going on out there from in here.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes before walking out and Castiel bowed, “Of course Sam.” Before following Dean out and closing the door.

 

Sam approached his flock members, “You alright?” he asked softly.

 

Lucifer turned and latched onto him immediately, “Are you sure he’ll forgive us?”

 

Sam returned the embrace, “Yes, I am.” He said with conviction.

 

Michael stared down at the halo in his hands, “What if he doesn’t?”

 

Sam smiled at him sadly, they had been getting more and more nervous as the time drew closer. He reached out behind Lucifer and squeezed Michael’s arm gently, “Do you want to pray to your father?” Michael looked up at him with wide eyes and Lucifer made a small distressed whine; Sam smiled at Michael and simply hugged Lucifer closer, “Go on.”

 

Michael’s eyes closed and Lucifer sank into Sam who heard them begin to pray through their connection. The prayers overlapped and converged but held the same pleas; let Gabriel forgive us, show us how to make him happy, and give us the strength to take down the Darkness once again. Sam felt the power in the room rise and smiled, prayer received then.

 

“Come on.” He urged gently, “We have to do this on time. Your nerves won’t get any better if we wait until tomorrow morning.”

 

Lucifer stepped out of Sam’s arms and Michael opened his eyes, “Thank you Sam.” He said with a rough voice.

 

Sam nodded, “Of course.” He walked back over to stand by Gabriel’s vessel and watch as the two elder Archangels began the ritual at dawn.

 

They said the incantation in unison and Michael dropped Gabriel’s halo into the center of the circle. It dropped toward the stone floor only to stop and hover above the salt. The halo’s glow brightened as the incantation came to an end and it floated up steadily, drawing the holy water, holy fire, and salt up with it. The windows shattered as pure grace began to flow in; it circled the room before hovering under the halo, around the floating line of salt. The grace collected for several long minutes until it was blinding enough to fill the entire room, when the flow through the windows slow considerably the fire and water appeared to swirl around the salt that was centered under the halo. A shockwave blew out from the grace before it and the halo flew over to the only empty vessel in the room.

 

The body arched from the pallet and opened its mouth of its own accord, drawing the grace, holy fire, holy water, and salt into it. Another shockwave rocked the room, sending the three others flying back against walls with the force.

 

As they got to their feet they heard a groan from the pallet, “Gabriel!” Michael and Lucifer called, worriedly. They all three converged on the newly resurrected just as he sat up.

 

Gabriel rubbed his eyes and groaned again, “What the hell?” he rasped, he swayed and Sam placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him. Gabriel spun at the touch and ended up falling toward Sam, he looked up at the Winchester blearily, “Sam?” he croaked, then his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed in Sam’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliff hanger! I know! I'm Evil! Mwahahahahahahahahaha!
> 
> I am not sure if that monastery is real. Dawn is when the first light appears in the sky so 6:40 am is dawn in the Rockies this time of year.
> 
> Hahaha! Whole other meaning to halo porn!
> 
> The whole fifteen chapters have been outlined and I have begun the next chapter!
> 
> Next time: Gabriel Feels!!!


	10. Brothers and Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry that this took so long. I got distracted by other fics and school and it just went to shit from there. 
> 
> Let me be clear (lol, obama), I WILL NEVER COMPLETELY ABANDON A FIC!!!!!!!!!! It may take me a while to get back to it however I will never just drop a fic without drawing it to at least a half conclusion. Just take a look at my dash to see what other stories have been keeping my attention and don't scream at me! I will ignore flames.

Sam grunted in surprise as Gabriel fell into him, the shortest Archangel was out like a light. Sam looked over at Michael and Lucifer to see them staring at their unconscious brother in states of pure shock. He sighed.

 

“Michael, Lucifer, focus!” their eyes went back up to Sam, “Michael go ask Metatron about this. It might just be part of his grace settling. Don’t freak out.” Michael nodded shortly and disappeared, “Lucifer I need you to go make sure the perimeter is clear.” Lucifer looked uncertain and Sam slid his grace reassuringly against his mate’s. “Luce, I need you to make sure we are safe. Make sure no one is coming for us.”

 

Lucifer let out a growl and disappeared. Sam sighed again and tried to move Gabriel back to the pallet so he could clean up, however Gabriel wouldn’t let go. The Messenger had a death grip on Sam’s biceps, his short nails digging into Sam’s flesh.

 

“Well isn’t this cozy.” Came Dean’s voice with a chuckle.

 

Sam twisted his head as much as he could and frowned at Dean, “Shut up! He won’t let go!” Lucifer appeared back beside them seconds later and Sam smiled, “Great, Luce help me pry Gabriel loose. He’s got quite the grip.”

 

Lucifer finally shook himself out of the shock and began trying to pry Gabriel’s hands off of Sam, but no matter what they tried Gabriel wouldn’t release the youngest Archangel. Lucifer looked down at his brother in exasperation, “Sorry Sam. He’s not letting you go for anything.” He glanced at the nails embedded in Sam, “In fact if it weren’t for your healing I’m sure you would be bleeding from how hard he’s gripping you. So there’s no way to break the grip without injuring one of you.”

 

Sam sighed and resigned himself to being Gabriel’s teddy bear until he woke up, “Fine.” He grumbled.

 

Lucifer smirked at him before turning to Dean and Castiel, “Can you two clean up here? It will be safest for them at the bunker.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes, “Yeah go on.”

 

Lucifer nodded and flew himself, Sam, and Gabriel back to their room in the bunker. Sam landed on the bed with a grunt and Gabriel sprawled on top of him. He quickly righted himself so he was sitting up against the pillows with the smaller Archangel in his lap. Lucifer’s amusement died and he began to fidget as he looked back and forth between Sam and Gabriel. “Deep breaths Lucifer.” Sam said gently, “I’m sure he’s fine.”

 

“What if he’s not?” Lucifer asked uncertainly, “What if we did it wrong? What if…”

 

“Lucifer.” Sam cut in, “Calm down. You can feel his grace right?” Lucifer bit his vessels lip and gazed at his brother for several second before nodding, “It’s strong right?” another nod, “Then it’s alright. If it changes then you can start worrying. Until then come sit with us.” Lucifer sighed and sank down onto the bed next to Sam, resting his head on Sam’s shoulder.

 

Michael appeared several seconds later at the foot of the bed, “Metatron said that he should wake up within 24 hours, it’s just his grace settling back around his core.” Sam nodded and Lucifer let out a sigh of relief. Michael tilted his head and frowned at their position, “Surely it would be better for him to lay on his own.”

 

Sam huffed, “It might be, but he won’t let go.”

 

Michael nodded shortly and sat on the end of the bed, both of the older Archangels fidgeted for several seconds before Michael shot back up. “What’s taking so long?!”

 

“Calm down Michael.” Sam sighed, “It’s only been a few minutes since he passed out. Just wait.”

 

“I don’t like waiting!” Michael whined.

 

“Human’s do it all the time.” Sam chuckled.

 

“I’m an Archangel!” Michael said puffing up his chest, “I don’t wait!”

 

Sam rolled his eyes at the older angel, “There isn’t anything you can do. Settle down.”

 

Michael bit his vessels lip and began to pace at the foot of the bed, Lucifer shifted several times before he stood up, “We have to do something.”

 

Michael stopped and looked to Sam, then Gabriel, before his gaze settled on Lucifer, “We’ll fix the nest.” Lucifer nodded in agreement and they both disappeared, Sam rolled his eyes again and summoned a book for him to read while he waited. Periodically Michael and Lucifer would pop in to put things in the room before popping back out. Sam glanced up from his book every so often to see the changes; they had gathered a bunch of Gabriel’s feathers from his hide outs and brought them to scatter around the room, they had also brought in heaps of blankets and pillows to throw over the bed and to lay on the floor, and one of them had brought what looked to be real clouds to set along the ceiling and the doorways.

 

Close to three hours later Dean and Castiel appeared in the doorway, Castiel clearly holding Dean back from entering. Dean eyed the room and Sam’s position with an amused smile, “Still hasn’t let go huh?”

 

“No Dean.” Sam sighed.

 

“And where are the other two?” Dean asked.

 

Sam sighed again, “They’re going a little stir crazy. They don’t like waiting so they are trying to make the room more nest like.”

 

Dean chuckled, “I see that.” He poked at a stray tuft of cloud.

 

Castiel pulled Dean back again, “I wouldn’t do that. With Gabriel unconscious they will be a bit more overprotective.”

 

“They’re worse than I was.” Dean huffed, stepping back a bit.

 

Sam smirked, “Hurts to say doesn’t it?”

 

“Shut it bitch.” Dean groused, he let out a put upon sigh, “I’ll leave you to it then. I’m going to a bar, keep me posted.”

 

“Bye Dean.” Sam huffed with an awkward wave, Dean walked off.

 

Castiel looked back to Sam, “Is he alright then?”

 

Sam gave Castiel a smile, “He’s fine. His grace is settling around his core. He will be up by tomorrow morning.” Castiel nodded and Sam tilted his head, reminiscent of Cas himself, “Were you two close before all of this?”

 

Castiel shifted uncomfortably, “As close as two from different flocks could be I suppose. Back then I was a bit smaller than my flock mates and I was always getting left behind, Gabriel would talk to me and he taught me to fly.”

 

“I see.” Sam said, “I’m sure he’ll be fine Cas.” The seraph looked from Gabriel up to Sam who had a warm smile on his face, Castiel smiled in return and nodded before disappearing. A few seconds later Michael and Lucifer appeared with an enormous teddy bear between them. “No, absolutely not.” Sam denied, “That thing is too big.”

 

“But Sam….” Lucifer whined.

 

“No, pillows or blankets are fine but I draw the line at a teddy bear bigger than me.” Sam said firmly, he eyed it like it was going to turn into a leviathan, “Where did you even get a teddy bear that big?”

 

“One of Gabriel’s safe houses.” Michael said, tugging on the arm, “Come on Sam, please?”

 

Sam rolled his eyes, “No. Put it back.” He looked at Lucifer pointedly, “I refuse to have sex with you with that thing in the same country.”

 

“But Sam….” Lucifer pouted.

 

“It’s just a teddy bear.” Michael huffed.

 

Sam raised an eyebrow at him, “It is a teddy bear larger than me, made by your trickster brother.” He looked back to Lucifer, “The same country, Lucifer.”

 

Lucifer huffed and the teddy bear disappeared, “Fine.” He looked to Gabriel, “Anything?”

 

Sam shook his head, “No change.”

 

Michael looked around the room, “Well it looks more nest like.” Sam gave a short nod, going back to his book. Michael and Lucifer shared glances, looking between the comatose Gabriel and Sam who seemed perfectly happy just reading his book until Gabriel woke. “Sam.” Michael called, the youngest Archangel looked up at him expectantly, “What now?”

 

Sam raised a single eyebrow, “Wait. He’ll come around in his own time. It’s only been a couple hours." Michael let out a soft whine which Sam seemed to find amusing, “Metatron said he’d need food. Why don’t you go find him something he can eat when he wakes up?”

 

Michael and Lucifer both lit up at the suggestion, “What would he like best?” Lucifer asked excitedly, looking to Michael.

 

“Well, even though it’s not exactly healthy, he’ll probably want candy.” Sam said off-handedly, going back to his book once again, “He’s been a trickster for years, it’s what they like to eat.” The older archangels nodded and disappeared, leaving Sam to sigh once again. A few silent minutes later Sam closed his book when a soft groan came from the angel on top of him. Gabriel’s grip tightened slightly and he rubbed his face against Sam’s flannel clad chest. Sam shifted, finally starting to feel pain from the grip on his arms, “Gabriel, let up on the death grip please.”

 

The Messenger froze and his grip slowly released before his eyes opened and he looked up at Sam with a frown, “Sam?”

 

Sam gave him a smile, “Hey, Gabriel. Nice of you to wake up. Not that I’m not comfortable but can you get off of me?”

 

Gabriel blinked and looked down before rolling off Sam with a small squeak, he sat next to Sam in an exhausted slump, “What happened? Last I remember……Lucifer stabbed me.” He rubbed his vessel where Lucifer had sunk his blade with a pained expression.

 

“It’s been several years since then.” Sam said slowly, “A lot has happened.”

 

Gabriel frowned up at Sam, “What…..” he was cut short when Michael and Lucifer appeared, each holding a stack of what looked to be five pound Hershey bars and several bags over flowing with other candy.

 

Seeing Gabriel awake they both dropped their candy, “Gabriel!” they exclaimed, jumping at him.

 

Gabriel squeaked in fright and the next thing Sam knew he was being pulled into flight, “Gabriel stop!” Sam called through the flurry of feathers and the rush of instantaneous travel. They landed in Gabriel’s Fortress of Solitude safe house, with Gabriel wide eyed and breathing heavy.

 

He looked wildly around his safe house when he noticed things were out of place, “They were here.” He said shakily.

 

“I know.” Sam said gently, “It’s….” Michael and Lucifer popped in next to them with worried expressions and Gabriel pulled Sam to a different safe house in an instant.

 

“Why do they keep coming?” Gabriel asked shakily, “Can’t they leave me out of their fight?”

 

Sam opened his connection to Lucifer and Michael, _Go back to the nest you two. He’s panicking right now and every time you show up suddenly it’s going to make it worse. I’ll bring him back once I’ve calmed him down._ They sent him their understanding and mental apologizes before Sam turned to focus on Gabriel who was looking around the messy Niagara Falls safe house. “They won’t come after us now.” Sam said gently, “Just breathe.”

 

Gabriel spun and glared at him, “You want me to breathe?! They’ll be here any second! When they sent their minds to something they don’t stop. No matter what! Nothing can change their minds!” he gave a bitter laugh, “Not even me.”

 

Sam crossed his arms over his chest, “I told them to go back to the nest. They’ll be there unless something happens.”

 

Gabriel gave a slightly crazed laugh, “And what makes you think they will listen to you, Winchester?” Sam narrowed his eyes at Gabriel and manifested his wings, he couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit smug when Gabriel’s mouth dropped open. “What the hell?! What did you do?!”

 

Sam rolled his eyes again, “I mated with Lucifer.” Gabriel’s eyes got impossibly wider, “Then apparently Raphael did something that made him unredeemable in the war and I became an archangel.” Gabriel’s mouth opened and closed silently as his eyes darted from Sam’s face to his wings and back.

 

Finally, he cleared his throat and asked weakly, “And Michael?”

 

Sam lost his bitch face and smiled, “He’s with us. He’s alright.”

 

Gabriel deflated a bit, looking a bit unsure, “And the apocalypse?”

 

“It won’t start up again.” Sam said, “They made up in the cage. There’s no more truly malicious fighting.”

 

Hope started to show in Gabriel’s eyes but he wrung his hands and looked toward the ground, “And what about me?” Sam frowned and Gabriel shifted, “Are they…..are they mad at me for being a coward? For running away?”

 

Sam softened and shook his head, “No, they aren’t. They are actually worried that you won’t want anything to do with them and won’t forgive them for how they acted before the fall.”

 

Gabriel’s brow furrowed, “Me forgive them? But I’m the one who ran away instead of helping.”

 

“From what I heard you tried everything to get them to stop except for fighting them physically and I definitely understand not wanting to hurt family.” Sam said, “They’re the ones who didn’t listen to reason.”

 

Gabriel blinked and finally cracked a smile, “I’m so telling them you said they were unreasonable.”

 

Sam shrugged, “Go for it. I called them assholes the other day.”

 

Gabriel gaped at him again, “How long did it take for you to be able to say that without being hit?”

 

Sam frowned, “I’m not sure, cage time is a bit vague for me.” Gabriel raised an eyebrow and Sam grimaced, “Right, we’ll have to catch you up too. You probably intended for us to trick Lucifer back into the cage but instead I said yes and allowed him in. Then, during the final confrontation, I took back control and drug Michael down to the Cage with us.”

 

Gabriel rolled his eyes, “You Winchesters just love to do things the hard way don’t you.”

 

Sam smirked, “Come on, it’s more fun that way.”

 

“How long have you been an Archangel?” Gabriel joked, “I think it’s affecting your sanity.”

 

“That’s why I fit in so well.” Sam shot back, Gabriel laughed. “So are you ready to go see them? They’ve been going crazy all day waiting for you to wake up. I think they’ve brought you an entire candy store.”

 

Gabriel looked torn but finally gave a dramatic sigh, “Well I can’t let the candy go to waste I guess.” He grumbled.

 

Sam laughed, “That’s the spirit!” he took off, flying toward the bunker with Gabriel following close behind.

 

When they landed in the nest they froze in slight shock; candy covered every surface in the room from the bed to the floor to the walls which had suspiciously new shelves that held what looked to be fresh handmade chocolates. The two oldest Archangels were over by the desk trying to juggle a still running chocolate fountain while they cleared space for it on the crowded desk.

 

Sam let out a groan, drawing Michael and Lucifer’s attention to him as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “Do I even want to know where you stole a chocolate fountain from?”

 

“We didn’t steal it!” Michael replied sternly, “We borrowed it!”

 

“Just a small one from Vegas.” Lucifer said, “The Jean-Phillippe one wouldn’t fit in here.” He pouted a bit at that.

 

Next to Sam, Gabriel snorted, “I bet not.”

 

Michael and Lucifer both lit up, “Gabriel!” they shouted happily, Michael swept the candy from the desk onto the floor with a wing and set the chocolate fountain down quickly before he and Lucifer sprung toward Gabriel, their wings manifesting in a rush. Sam stepped back and watched with a smile as the two older Archangels engulfed their younger brother in their arms and wings. As they held him and whispered apologies Gabriel let his wings out to mingle with his brothers and began to cry.

 

Knowing they could use a bit of privacy, Sam flew to the library where he felt Castiel. He smiled at the seraph when he looked up, “Hey Cas, how are you doing?”

 

“Fine Sam, thank you.” Castiel replied, he tapped the tome on the table before him, “I’m translating one of the bunker’s books.”

 

Sam glanced over the page that was opened, catching spell ingredients and a few bits of lore on mermaids, “Sounds interesting.”

 

Castiel let out a short huff, “It takes the mind off other things.”

 

Sam nodded in understanding, “Alright, well I just wanted to let you know that Gabriel’s awake.” Cas perked up, “He’s reuniting with Michael and Lucifer right now but he’ll be out here for either dinner or breakfast. Honestly though I’m leaning toward breakfast, Michael and Lucifer have filled the room with candy for him at the moment.”

 

Cas chuckled, “Must be a mess.” Sam nodded with an exasperated expression, Cas smiled a big warm smile, “I’m happy he is awake and alright. I will see him in the morning.”

 

Sam nodded and gave a weak wave before flying toward the bar he felt Dean at. He landed behind the bar and went in through the back door. When he entered the main room it didn’t take him long to pinpoint his brother. Dean was sitting at the bar nursing what looked to be his third beer.

 

Sam dropped onto the stool beside his brother and rapped his knuckles on the bar top. Dean looked over at him as the bartender dropped a bottle in front of him, “Hey. I see you have been released from teddy bear duty.” Sam gave a soft snort but nodded. “How did it go?”

 

“They tried to rush him and he ran.” Sam said shortly. Dean raised his eyebrows at his brother, waiting for the rest. “He took me with him so when they followed I had to talk him down. They’re in the nest right now calming down.”

 

“So you haven’t told him what’s going on yet?” Dean questioned.

 

“No, but he just woke up from being dead. Give him an hour to calm down before we dump that on him.” Sam took a drink of his beer, “Even we give each other time to calm down after our latest deaths before we dump the next disaster on each other.”

 

“Latest deaths.” Dean huffs, “How bad is it that that’s normal for us?”

 

Sam chuckled, “Come on dude, three more and we win a free trip to purgatory.”

 

Dean frowned at his brother, “He is such a bad influence on you.”

 

Sam shrugged, “Well he is the Devil.” Dean rolled his eyes and they sank into a comfortable silence as they drank.

 

Two beers later Dean looked over to Sam, “Can I see them?” he asked bluntly. Sam raised both eyebrows at Dean, his beer frozen at his mouth. “You know, your….” He raised both hands and flapped them.

 

“My wings?” Sam asked, putting his beer down, “Sure.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, why not?” Sam said, pulling out his wallet and taking out the bills necessary to close their tab.

 

“Cas won’t show me.” Dean said with a slight pout, “I figured it was an angel thing.”

 

“Kinda.” Sam laughed, “You’re only supposed to show your wings to family and mates. You only saw Michael and Lucifer’s last week because you were a threat and they were acting on instinct alone.”

 

“I’m family.” Dean pouted as they made their way out to the Impala, “Why wouldn’t Cas show me?” Sam rolled his eyes at his oblivious brother and watched as he got into the car. The second Dean’s door closed Sam placed his hand on the roof of the car and transported them back to the bunker’s garage. Dean jumped out of the car again, glaring at Sam, “Dude! Not cool! You know I hate having my car moved on angel air! Even worse! You’re in training! What if you’d hurt her?”

 

“Relax. I’ve done this before and I practiced on other people’s cars before I even considered doing it to the Impala.” Sam said, trying to soothe his brother. “Besides, I can feel their grace settling and I figured you wanted to see my wings _before_ I was called back.”

 

Dean glared at him for several more seconds before sighing, “Fine.” He rubbed the Impala’s hood lovingly, “Just don’t take her flying too often alright?”

 

“Yes Dean.” Sam said indulgently.

 

“Good.” Dean said, shutting the door and walking around to Sam’s side. He shifted awkwardly as he stood in front of Sam, “Are you sure its….” Sam rolled his eyes again and manifested his wings with a soft whoosh. Dean’s breath caught in his throat as he took in the three pairs of wings that spread from Sam’s back.

 

“Magnificent isn’t he?” came Lucifer’s voice, interrupting Dean’s open mouth staring. Sam looked over his brother’s shoulder to see his mate standing a few feet behind Dean.

 

Sam’s eyes went back to Dean when his brother breathed a, “Yeah.” in agreement. His hand came up but he stopped himself uncertainly. Sam rolled his eyes and moved one of his wings closer to Dean; his brother gripped it lightly, like he thought it would break if he twitched the wrong way. “Whoah.” He murmured, Dean ran a tentative hand down the wing, his eyes watching as the feathers reordered themselves behind the disruption.

 

Lucifer came closer and tugged on one of Sam’s other wings, “Where did you go?”

 

Sam smiled, “You guys needed some time together. I was monitoring your grace just in case.”

 

“Thank you Sam.”

 

The youngest Archangel inclined his head, “Of course.”

 

“These are awesome Sammy.” Dean said from where he was playing with Sam’s wing. He seemed to have gotten over most of his worry and was petting the feathers steadily.

 

Sam looked to consider his wings before grinning and nodding, “Yeah, they’re pretty cool.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes and looked to force himself to take a step back, “I assume you’re needed now.” He said, looking pointedly at Lucifer.

 

Lucifer slid an arm around Sam’s waist as he folded his wings away and nodded at Dean, “Yes, things have calmed down and we need him so we can officially welcome Gabriel back into the flock.”

 

Dean’s eyebrow rose, “You okay with that?” he asked Sam.

 

“Yes. Like I told Lucifer and Michael, he went about it the wrong way but I understand why he did what he did.” Sam replied.

 

Dean sighed, “I guess I can kinda understand.” He waved them off, “Go on then.”

 

Lucifer pulled Sam closer, “We’ll catch Gabriel up tonight and then go over the plans for finding the new Death tomorrow.” With that he pulled Sam with him straight to their nest. Gabriel was sitting on the bed eating a tray of truffles while Michael was chattering at him excitedly in Enochian. “I found him.” Lucifer announced.

 

Michael looked up with a blinding smile, “Sam! We wondered where you ran off too.”

 

 

Sam gave him a soft smile, “You guys needed some time alone. I was monitoring from afar.”

 

Gabriel gave Sam a grateful look while Michael nodded, “Alright. Come sit, we’ll do the official welcoming and then spend the night talking and building the bonds.” Sam sat at the head of the bed with Lucifer and leaded into his mate to wait for the welcoming to start. Michael opened his mouth to begin before frowning and looking toward the door.

 

Gabriel tensed and started to look uncertain, “What is it?”

 

Sam shot Gabriel a reassuring smile before looking to the eldest Archangel, “Michael?”

 

Gabriel shifted away from the group a bit, “I can go….”

 

In the next instant Michael had him crushed against his side, “You’re not going anywhere little brother.” He growled. Gabriel tried to show a disgruntled face but it was ruined as he snuggled closer to Michael. “That wasn’t why I stopped.” He looked between the other three. “Castiel was rejected from his flock wasn’t he?”

 

“Castiel is here?” Gabriel asked, perking up a bit. Michael grinned down at his brother before looking expectantly to Sam.

 

“Yes, after the whole angels falling thing he was officially cast out.” Sam said, he looked to Gabriel and smirked, “And of course he’s here. Dean’s here. They wouldn’t be able to have their eye fucking matches if he was anywhere else.”

 

Gabriel grinned, “Still pinning after Dean-o huh? Well I’ll just have to help that along! I’m sure the cherubs wouldn’t mind helping either.” Lucifer snickered and Michael rolled his eyes.

 

“What about bring Castiel in as well?” Michael asked, Gabriel’s eyes lit up and he looked over to the other two official members of the flock hopefully.

 

Sam nodded, “I don’t have a problem with Castiel joining us.”

 

Lucifer glanced at his mate quickly before focusing on Michael, “Why?”

 

“I know how it is to be without a flock.” Michael said softly, “Our flock breaking up was one of the worse things I’ve ever experienced. He can’t be having an easy go with it either. Plus, Sam had a point the other day. Even though he went about it wrong and made mistakes Castiel did try to protect the host while we were unable too. He also shows loyalty and conviction.”

 

Lucifer looked to consider this for several seconds before glancing to Gabriel who was looking hopeful and sighing, “Very well. We will bring him in as well.”

 

Gabriel gave a little cheer and Michael smiled, “Castiel, come here.” He called with power in his voice.

 

In the next second there was a knock at the door before it swung open, “You called?” Castiel asked respectfully from the doorway. His eyes alighted on Gabriel and he smiled before focusing back on Michael.

 

“You are invited into the nest.” Michael said, “We have a question for you.”

 

Castiel came into the nest a little uncertainly and tensed when the door closed behind him, “Yes?”

 

Michael smiled at the seraph, “We would like to know if you would like to join our flock.”

 

Castiel’s eyes widened and he blinked several times, “Excuse me?” he asked, his voice a little higher than normal.

 

“Would you like to join our flock Cas?” Sam asked gently from his spot against Lucifer.

 

“We’ve already talked it over.” Lucifer said, “We just need your answer.”

 

Castiel looked at each of the four archangels in turn and only saw acceptance and truth on their faces, “I would be honored.” He finally said.

 

“Great!” Michael said as Gabriel reached out and pulled Castiel onto the bed which Lucifer expanded to fit all of them easily. “We were just about to welcome Gabriel as well.” He moved so he was sitting with Sam and Lucifer and Gabriel and Castiel were sitting across from them. “Ready?” the two inductees nodded. Michael, Lucifer, and Sam all manifested their wings and let their grace float out of the tight holds they had on it. “ _We formally invite you, Gabriel, and you, Castiel, into our flock with all of its knowledge and members. Do you accept?_ ” Michael asked in Enochian.

 

Both Gabriel and Castiel manifested their wings, Gabriel’s three sets a brilliant gold and Castiel’s set an inky black, and let their grace out to mingle with the other threes. “ _I accept._ ” They spoke in unison, the grace began to thread together and all of the angel’s wings started to tingle.

 

“ _I welcome you to my flock._ ” Michael said.

 

“ _I welcome you to my flock._ ” Lucifer repeated.

 

“ _We welcome you to our flock._ ” Sam finished. The grace in the room crested and glowed, swirling around the new flock members and joining them with the other three. Just as the grace began to die down they all felt a powerful presence in the room, it surrounded them and filled them with the feeling of love and pride. Their grace rose once more and the light filled the room, blinding even the archangels before dying off completely.

 

Michael smiled happily, “I believe father is pleased.” Lucifer nodded in agreement.

 

Suddenly they heard Castiel squeak and Gabriel begin to laugh happily. Everyone looked over to see Castiel staring wide eyed as two more sets of wings grew from his back. Once the new appendages reached full size they stopped growing and settled with Castiel’s original wings. “Wha….” Cas stuttered uncharacteristically.

 

“Father is _really_ pleased.” Lucifer laughed.

 

Gabriel’s laughter died and he simply grinned at Cas, “Welcome to the club Cassie!”

 

Lucifer and Sam traded an amused look while Michael gave Castiel and Gabriel a blinding smile, “Welcome home you two!”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm in college so updates will be sporadic.
> 
> Suggestions and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcome.


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